Demons With Arches
by Rieszeye
Summary: Life surely was screwed up for Hawk until he was suddenly entrusted to the job of saving the world- and what's worse, he's going to have to do it with three ladies.. and possibly more along the way.  Seiken Densetsu 3/ Secret of Mana 2 fanfic.
1. The World Lacks Sympathy

edit: That caption thing was too long.. and I need to say something else: I won't be uploading anything that recently from now on, I'm quite busy! Maybe a week from now. :)

DEMONS WITH ARCHES = CHAPTER ONE: The world lacks sympathy

by Rieszeye.

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The inn was filled with impatient roudy people, especially today. There wasn't even a significant event that'd explain why customers couldn't even sleep for two minutes.

A man wearing a dusty vest and baggy pants, which people already classified as rags, slowly approached the innkeeper, who seemed to be half-dead. He didn't approach slowly for caution, it's because he couldn't exactly walk any faster. Bump any of the other customers and you're sure to leave the inn with a face covered in bruises. And that's just half of it.

"Hey," the man held the innkeeper by the shoulders and started shaking him vigorously. "How much for a night's stay?"

The innkeeper sat up. "You must be joking," he replied, panting as if he were caught in a fight against bulls.. "Do you really think you'd be able to get a good night's rest with beastmen invading the city?"

Alright.. make that beasts.

"Hell if I care." the man pushed his violet hair in a ponytail to the back of his shoulders. "I just need to rest, or are the beastmen going to prevent us from doing that as well..?"

"Well, go ahead, do whatever you want. You rotten thieves wouldn't be able to steal anything from me anyway. Those beastmen already took what was left of this dump. These days, you don't even know anything about hope anymore, huh..?" What was that? This isn't a bar, there's no need for complaints. The innkeeper was awfully calm.. at least, calmer than the rest.

"Rotten thief..?" He tried to see if his patience was still at a good level. It usually isn't. This was probably just an assumption based on the other low-lives stuck in this so-called 'dump' anyway. But this assumption was accurate for once. His patience level was surprisingly high enough, higher than if he were a happy-go-lucky sort of guy who chased butterflies and was called a rotten thief. In theory, maybe it's better to be insulted if you're worth the insult, and in this case.. he was a rotten thief being called a rotten thief. It didn't make a difference.

"You think you're different..? Why are you here, then?" The innkeeper suddenly gave him this look- the same look the beastmen gave everyone else. Then again, the man was a thief.. you'd think he'd have already gotten that look at least eighty times in his entire life.

"I don't know, the damn boat stopped here, what choice do I have..? The pilot said I'd be stuck here for the night anyway, I didn't expect this inn to have such high demand." he commented sarcastically.

"What's your name..? Or are thieves fully aware of the dangers of talking to strangers..?"

"Shut up," the man retorted. "I was never given that lesson by anyone else. I know the dangers by experience.. but I don't consider any of you goons here as any major threat. I'm Hawkeye of Navarre. I'll be happy to leave this place in the morning, thank you very much. Just talking to you, I don't even want to set my already-scarred eyes on this place, so actually, I'll be leaving.. now. Sleep can wait."

"Hawkeye, huh..? How's about I call you Hawk, then?" The innkeeper asked. It didn't matter what he was called, it's not like they'll be meeting again any time soon after this. The man was already halfway to the door when sudden whims and cries of weak citizens were heard outside. "Hear that? You won't be leaving any time soon. Well, unless you're some hero with super strength and agility. But you're just a rotten thief."

He had a point there, but this wasn't the time. "I'm not a hero." Hawk said, subtly. "Unless you'd classify an exile thief who's being targeted by everyone in Navarre a hero. If not, I'd say I'm just seeking for a comfortable place to die peacefully, but I'd say this is a horrible place fate chose for me."

The door shut behind him as the other customers lost their past thoughts and were suddenly whispering about what was happening just outside the inn. Was he a goner if he went outside? The remains of Castle City Jad were taken over by large beastmen who obviously had nothing to do in their spare time but read superhero comics about getting a hold of power. Because this was always the way to get more power, like they weren't already frightening enough. To Hawk, life and death didn't matter anymore.

"Hey, you! You think you're all mighty coming up to me like that, huh?"

And neither did emotions.

"I wasn't planning to." There really wasn't anything to say. Would death threats and seven year-old arrogance really benefit him here? Not entirely.

"This one's a tough guy, huh?" The beastman roared louder, as he fully exposed his fur-covered body and large muscles. Of course you couldn't tell, though, but it had a rough shape. His teeth were another story- think of vampires and werewolves.. combined. Except this beastman was undeniably more werewolf.

So Hawk's suddenly a tough guy after denying the will to fight? Isn't that supposed to be the response threats and arrogance would gain..? What's with this city?

The beastman approached Hawk with a sinister smile – which also isn't very unfamiliar with his past experiences. With no weapon but his claws, the large werewolf had that glow in his eyes, and it wasn't the friendly kind. This beastman had the will to kill even the smallest ant. A thief is supposed to come prepared, right? Daggers. Hawk had two sharp daggers dangling from the inside of his 'rags', and they had golden vines on the sides with a small orb on the top right. It was the special edition, fit perfectly to fight off Navarre ninjas who were after to kill you for treason.. and now its new focus: to apparently kill beastmen.

But he couldn't expose them until needed. As smart and strategic as Hawk is, he'd know that he'd need to be a stupid moron to just suddenly take out his daggers and kill one beastmen; because after one beastmen dies, fifty more come and he's as good as dead, too. It'd be easier to die without a fight.

"I-I'm sorry.." Hawk fell to the ground. "I-I..I'm not challenging you or anything! Please! Please spare my life.. I'll give you anything!"

The inn's windows were dusted and half of them were broken, but that didn't mean you couldn't see through it. The innkeeper and the suddenly-calmed customers were silently peeking out of the tiny cracks in the glass, since you couldn't see through the actual glass itself. The innkeeper snickered. "That Hawkeye."

The beastman wasn't amused- but he sure was fooled. "I get that all the time, but guess what, life isn't that easy."

What is this? "Please spare me.. oh-beasty-ness.." The ever-so-dramatic thief started pleading, which made the Beastman raise an eyebrow.

"Pathetic." The innkeeper whispered to himself all the way from the inn. "Was that a joke or what..?"

Hawk was still bowing down to the beastman, hoping he wouldn't have to cause such a ruckus. Maybe bowing down wasn't the best way to show respect.. truthfully, he never had to. Is this part of a thief's job description or something?

"Heh." The beastman laughed. The thief was fully aware that that meant he wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Patience was always the wrong way to go, and this time that's final. Before he could move his arms, the beastman suddenly swung his claws into Hawk's back, leaving five deep scratches that probably wouldn't disappear for a long time.

With a grunt, Hawk withdrew and clutched his back, walking one or two steps away from the beastman who was still occupied by his laughter. Was that already considered a victory, then?

People back at the inn were speechless. Were they really expecting something better from him? The thief got what he deserved, they presumed.

"I'm not that kind of guy," The beastman's laughter subsided. Message received. He's a cold-hearted jerk. It's not surprising, though. Thieves never really encountered any kind people, which is exactly why that job's difficult. Think of dealing with security and people who live to kill you everyday.

Still feeling the pain of those blade-sharp claws, Hawk realized that a weapon is only as good as its wielder. With a slight tug of his top, he quickly took out both his daggers with one hand and flung his hand in the air, throwing the daggers towards the hairy werewolf, who of course dodged both daggers and felt content with his speed.. for now. In the blink of an eye, the thief swiftly appeared behind him, with nothing but a flash of his image left where he was half a second ago. In another swift movement, he caught the still-flying daggers with both hands and positioned one on the beastman's neck.

"I'm not that kind of guy, either. You see? We both make really good actors!" Hawk cheered. The Beastman started to quake and sweat. What was with this sudden new personality? Earlier this thief was begging for mercy and now he's treating a werewolf two times bigger than him as a friend.

"Y-you're armed, huh?" This beasty-ness over here was definitely stuttering and hoped a few words could spare his life. "No matter. I can always call on other beastmen!"

So much for being armed.

Before he knew it, dozens of Beastmen came out of hiding, exposing their different colored claws and frightening gazes. Hawk was convinced that the citizens would come out thanking him afterwards for taking the beastmen away.

"HAWK!" The innkeeper once again showed his face through the window cracks. "YOU'RE A GONER! Run away or something, you can't fight them off on your own."

That's one thing they both agreed on.

"But you won't help me anyway," Hawk called out. "so what choice do I have?" His daggers once again emerged from his vest and eyed a couple of beastmen who seemed to be ready to attack in any second. Any sense of movement, and he's screwed. This time, for real.

But he was ready to die anyway, there wasn't really anything left for him to yearn for or accomplish, so what's the point of life? Hawk's topaz-colored eyes finally met the beastman's claws.. better yet, make that 'beastmen's claws'. He was surely dead, right?

Right after the hard swings and blows of the dozen beastmen surrounding the hopeless thief, a silver polished lance landed on the faces of each beastmen in one swing, almost too quickly. He could've sworn the claws were already on his face. With the beastmen now situated on the ground, bleeding and unable to move an inch, Hawk finally decided it was now safe to stand up and examine the surroundings. Clearly he wasn't able to steal such a lance in his time in Jad.. no, he was never able to steal such a lance. It was one of a kind, even better than his steel daggers. Was this a blessing? If it was, he'd love to have legendary weapons rain from the sky and bring down your current enemies.

"You okay there, runt?" chimed a voice. What's with the name-calling in this city, it's pretty much filled with non-imaginative beings here. Much like the beastmen.

Hawk stared. It definitely wasn't a blessing, since the lance had an owner. A young lady, probably from a rich family, emerged from the shadows with her silky long blonde hair hanging from her shoulders. Now that was a blessing. She dusted off some mud from what seemed to be a dress made of leaves and grass. Now that was imaginative. Before Hawk could ask anything, better yet say anything, the beautiful young lady turned around and bent over to pick up her lance.. a view Hawk very much was pleased with.

"What you have there is quite beautiful." Hawk slyly commented. With a slight twitch, the girl pointed her lance at his face.

"Perverted dog, know your place. Is that the proper respect you'd give to any princess..?"

"Very much so. By the way, you can call me Hawk instead of that other name.." he replied, pushing his muscles to stand up. So this girl was a princess, huh? "And I was talking about your weapon, oh sweet princess. And your name is..?"

He really needed to learn how to address royalty better.. and beastmen while he was at it.

"Right. I know you were talking about something else. And I thought I'd be more known in this filthy place. Ever heard of the amazoness princess of Rolante? That'd be me. My name's Riesz. You're welcome for my 'beautiful' weapon saving your sorry a-"

The princess was suddenly stopped by an elusive Hawk kneeling down before her.

"Riesz, it's an honour to be blest with such a pretty face. Are you a blessing sent from above..?"

"I sure hope not," was her reply. Her lance softly made contact with Hawk's chin, pushing it upwards so his eyes would meet hers. Frankly, Hawk didn't even try to resist. "If you overdo it, who knows what I'll do? One thing's for sure, I will definitely hurt you."

"That's perfectly fine," Hawk smiled. "Do your worst. I'll even welcome it."

Riesz tried her best to hide her forceful blush, because she could've sworn that comment was made to be dirty. She then remembered that what she said beforehand wasn't so clean either, but that's not even what she meant.. after all, she had just met this man a few minutes ago. And seeing as though he was about to be dead meat if she didn't interfere, she'd hoped this man would at least show her some gratitude.

"I'm leaving." She had no other business to attend to, especially not here, and especially not with _him_.

"So soon..? If you'd like, I can buy you a couple of drinks or something. I see a pub right over there, and I'm sure you took care of those beastmen pretty well. I'd love for you to accompany me there. What do you say, Riesz..?"

"That's 'Princess' to you.. and..hm, tempting." she replied, making Hawk wonder if that was sarcasm. "As you should know, a well-taught princess such as myself am well-aware of the consequences of drinking, especially with harmful men like you."

Sarcasm it is.

Since when were princesses taught about drinking..? Surely even the topic never reached the castle or wherever she lived in. It seems they're more held back than most people, due to the fact that their parents are well respected by other people and their children are probably more pressured. Still, that's no excuse.

"What brings you here, anyway? Surely a lovely princess such as yourself wouldn't think of this place as a great vacation destination." Hawk broke the silence. The moon had just showed itself. Strange. The beastmen really were gone. "I don't suppose you plan to invade this little dump.. I assume that's what royalty does these days for power."

"Are you stupid?" Riesz roared. "The beastmen just invaded this city, don't think we'd stoop to such a low level and copy their actions.. but I guess you're right. Other royalty members keep talking about power and more power, it makes me sick. Do you know why I'm here? Rolante was invaded by Navarrian ninjas and kidnapped my brother, Prince Elliott. Those stupid thieves just don't know when to stop."

Hawk frowned. Rolante was named 'The Castle That Never Fell' until it, well.. fell. To Hawk's knowledge, the Navarrian ninjas were possessed. Otherwise, they would never stoop to such a low level either. He'd know. He's from Navarre himself.

"They spreaded sleep polen all over the castle and killed my father, right after kidnapping my brother. At this point I have nothing! M-my mother's gone too.. I will definitely kill the one who did this..!" The tired amazoness collapsed on the ground, dirtying her dress even more. It was understandable that she'd escape.. but to where?

"Listen, Riesz. Don't think of the Navarrians in such a bad way," Hawk begain. He was defending his home, the home that it used to be, that is. "Listen, this is pretty much how it all happened. This sinister woman, Isabella, has been with the Navarre Thieves' Guild leader, Flamekhan, for quite a long time that she's gained our trust. One day, though, she manipulated Flamekhan into this whole idea of invading Rolante for more power, to get a hold of the Sword of Mana, and for darkness to rule the world.. My best friend, Eagle, was also possessed and I ended up having to murder him with my own two hands, and Isabella put a cursed necklace on his sister, Jessica, and if I tried to kill Isabella, she'd die as well.. so I fought my way out of that corrupted place and brought myself here.. so if you do manage to find that woman, I'd ask that you please spare her life.. just until I find a way to save Jessica.."

That was weird.. since when was Hawk that type of person? He sure gave everyone the wrong impression, though. Riesz was tied on what to say. Firstly, this man is also from Navarre, but he's in exile. Who knows what this man's capable of. But above all that, he did seem to care, and it shows that he doesn't plan to harm anyone... yet.

The princess slowly lowered her lance and paused for a while, thinking. What else could she do? What would simple pity accomplish, anyway? "Sword of Mana, huh? I've heard that everywhere these days.. it seems that Mana tree's been weak. I really don't know much about it, though.." she said as she slowly stood up. It was definitely hard to keep this conversation going.

Hawk had no background knowledge on Mana, but from what he's experienced, it's obvious people are after the fact that it's weak and helpless.. and vulnerable. Who knows what great power the sword has enclosed inside its blade.. and what people can achieve with it. Besides, with the Mana growing weaker everyday, just think how easy it'd be to steal all that power. Maybe he'd get more information on it later. Right now was the current task at hand, though. He was leaving a pretty girl here so late at night!

"My apologies, your highness. I've kept you here so late. I know, let's journey to the pub, I'm sure there are a lot of people there you could ask about your brother. If you'd like, I'll help you gather some information." he softly said as he offered his arm; which Riesz delightfully accepted and held on to. "Alright, but you better not influence me to do anything bad. I will kill you. Can't we just stop by at the inn to rest..?"

"I've been warned." Hawk smirked. "And, no. I'd stay out of the inn if I were you."

By the way, what ever happened to the innkeeper and those other customers.. did the ruckus subside?

The trip to the pub was quite awkward, seing as though no one seemed to make a sound throughout the oh-so-boring trek.

As they entered the pub, though, they didn't expect the unfriendly faces they'd get to see. At least they weren't beastmen. What ever happened to them as well..?

"You sure escaped an escape." Called one man, sitting at the very back of the table, just finishing his drink of some sort.

Clueless, Riesz tried to avoid conveying with any of the men. "H-Hawk, was it..? Can we just.. you know.. leave? I'm kind of scared.."

Just what he was expecting. "Don't worry, princess, as long as I'm here by your side, no evil shall make its way over to you."

Lame. So lame.

"HEY!" Hawk stepped forth. "This young lady's brother was recently abducted by.." He raised an eyebrow and turned to Riesz, who seemed to start whispering things to him. "..by two armed men from Navarre. If anyone has seen her brother or the two men, please step forth. Anyone with background information on this incident or the incident of the invasion of Rolante, also step forth. Did I mention this beautiful lady here is a princess! You better not be hiding anything significant."

Two men slowly stepped forward, offering their weapons and armor for no reason whatsoever. Were they really frightened by Hawk's announcement.. or could these be the two men the princess mentioned..? They do seem well armed.

"P-please.. take our w-weapons and arm—armor.. Princess Riesz..!" They bowed down. Without hesitation or second thinking, Hawk gladly swept the offered weapons and examined them. What is this? The weapons were old and rusted, and the armor was worn out. So much for the offer. These couldn't have been the men capable of kidnapping a prince. These people couldn't even be from Navarre with hopeless weapons like these. Are they for real? No wonder they became stranded out here.

Riesz tried her best to sound grateful. "They're very.. nice, thank y-"

"These things suck. Did you get them from the local dumpsite or something?" Hawk, on the other hand, couldn't care less about their feelings. No one cared for his, anyway.

The two men suddenly changed personalities. "Do you think we don't know that? This is the best we could get from the dump they called the weapon and armor shop. We just want to be spared from what this woman could possibly do to us when she finds out we don't have any information on anything you blabbered about."

"I agree, this place has horrible weapons!" Hawk and Riesz quickly turned around to figure out where the extra voice had come from. Surely enough, another man with thick flowing orange hair, went inside the pub. It seemed as though he had just come from pumelling something.. were the beastmen back? This guy must be a knight or something. At least, he was portraying one well.

"I visited the weapon shop and guess what they said? They said the beastmen took all their items! I hate it when they use the beastmen as an excuse for everything! 'Oh, we can't let you stay at this inn because it's so hard to get any rest with beastmen around!'", the man ranted. "He offered me some things that the beastmen didn't get, but they were all garbage! No wonder they didn't get them, they weren't worth it!"

"I just can't wait to leave this place in the morning." Hawk laughed. The knight seemed confused.

"Oh, so you don't live here..? Why didn't you say so? You shouldn't leave in the morning, you should leave right now while the beastmen disappeared from here. I took out one just a few minutes ago, but I have no idea what happened to the rest." he started to scratch is head for a while. "Oh, I'm Duran- a knight from Forcena. If you'd like, I'll help you escape. Where are you people going to?"

Riesz brushed her hair with her fingers. "An amazoness told me that if I seeked help in looking for my brother that I travel to Wendel to ask the-"

"Priest of Light for guidance.." Hawk finished her sentence. The three eyed each other. That was too much of a coincidence, huh? What now? Next thing you know, that knight's also going there..

"Alright! Since we three are heading there, why don't we escape together?" the knight offered cheerfully.

Whooptie-doo.

"Ah, that's fine." Hawk dismissed. "As much as I'd like to, I really have to go first. I'm the kind of guy to travel on my own, sorry."

At this point, who knows what those other two would do when they meet Isabella.. it'd be better if he travelled alone. They might even be too much of a nuisance.

"H-Hawk.. wh-why not? I thought you said-" Riesz suddenly paused. There's nothing worse than inviting a thief from the place that invaded your kingdom to join you on your journey. That'd be a bad idea. But still, Hawk's charisma had already landed on Riesz and she just can't let her dream man wander off without her.

As she was planning for her next set of words to convince the thief to stay with her, she was interrupted by his swift movement. By the time she knew it, he was already behind her, softly grabbing her shoulders and turning her around to face him.

"I'll come back to find you later, Riesz," he whispered, gently kissing her cheek. The amazoness could no longer hide her face from becoming cherry-red; not because she was embarrassed, well, that was half of it, but she enjoyed it. A lot.

After seeing the princess blush, Hawk smiled and walked out the door. "Yo, Duran, do you mind escorting this beautiful princess to her destination? Just let me leave first, though. I don't know how I'd be able to continue my journey if I get distracted by her beauty."

As much as it was an excuse, it wasn't completely untrue.. for either of them.

Hawk walked out from the pub, hearing the last few words from Riesz. "B-be careful, Hawk.. I'll be waiting."

The thief smiled again, and headed outside the city, which was no longer being guarded by the ferocious beastmen. That was a horrible encounter, but meeting Riesz was definitely a remedy.

As he headed outside, he was quickly greeted by the beautiful forest- and the not so beautiful rabites.

"You're kidding me.. Who would've known the stupid city leads to a forest.." Hawk muttered under his breath, taking out his daggers once again, slicing through dozens of rabites in every area; and the occasional Myconids. Apparently they weren't mushrooms.

As he finally escaped the forest, which wasn't such a long walk, he blindly ended up in a small little village just when the sun rose up to the sky, exchanging shifts with the moon. He was also greeted by a small little sign saying: Welcome to Lakeshore Village Astoria!

He was relieved he had arrived somewhere to rest since he had completely forgotten that he disregarded the inn back at Jad. Damn beastmen just ruined everything. The fact that this village was more calm and warm reminded Hawk how tired he really was as he entered the inn. No roudy people, no annoying innkeepers and most especially, no beastmen. He could finally rest!

Although it would've been quite nice to stay there for quite a while, he couldn't possible forget the current task at hand- which was to eliminate Isabella, avenge Eagle and save Jessica from the necklace. That's one heck of a mission lying on his shoulders, and he won't be able to live normally the way he did in the Thieves' Guild for a long time, that's for sure. The idea already seemed impossible.

"You can sleep whenever you want." the innkeeper destroyed his train of thought.

"Th-thank you," Hawk tried his very best to be respectful for once. He couldn't forget this was a peaceful village, and he hadn't been to one in such a long time. He noticed he was still holding out his daggers and hoped not to cause any discomfort for the innkeeper- or anyone. "I don't suppose you have any good weapons here? I really need to replace these things." he said, showing his rusted daggers.

"They're still in good shape." The innkeeper formally smiled. "A little rust won't ruin its performance, but if you really want to buy new ones, I'm sure you can visit the weapon shop right outside in the south-east corner. While your at it, there's an armor shop right beside it."

Good. That's what he was about to ask, anyway. The thief nodded his thanks and headed outside. Maybe sleep can wait just a little while.

He journeyed outside towards the south-eastern little shack by the lake. The lake had a radiant glow today, even when it was early in the morning. It was as if the moon was still shining down on it. It really was beautiful. Caught staring at the lake, Hawk was approached by a tall man, his gaze still situated on the lake as well. "You missed it."

Hawk looked at him in confusion. "Missed what..?"

"The light."

So this little village was possessed too. Great.

"What kind of light is this, a spirit or something?" Hawk at least tried to humor the man.

"That's what we believe!" The man's eyes glowed. So humor didn't work. Were they sure it wasn't, oh maybe, the MOON? "A strange mysterious light bathes Astoria every night, and we think it's a sign of hope, that Mana isn't that weak yet. It's as if the Goddess is telling us not to lose hope yet! Ever since then, this village has been a lot more cheerful and full of life, expecting the light to come every night to give all of us a glimpse of hope ."

That was pathetic.. hoping on something that you're not even sure about. What will they do when they found out it isn't what they thought it would be? They're probably unaware of the circumstances. This village might turn into Jad when what they hope for turned out to be wrong. Hawk totally wasn't one of those people who have full of hope and attempt to stay happy all their lives.. because at some point, everyone would have to admit that life is just one big cycle of hopelessness. It all comes back to problems at every turn.

"Maybe we'll get to see it tonight!" The man said his last words as he ran off on his own. Hawk continued to the weapon shop, hoping to avoid any more contact with these weird people.

"Oi, a new customer, eh? You new around here, bud?" Oh great. Another overly-happy shopkeeper.

"Got any good weapons for me? Daggers, preferably. I need to replace mine as soon as I can." Hawk announced, showing off his daggers once again.

"Oh, I can easily improve the rust in five minutes!" he cheered.

Seriously? He figured it wouldn't even be possible to take out the rust in ten years!

It took him quite a while, but after nabbing the daggers and forcing Hawk to let him do his job, he finally finished it- with great results.

"I don't think I've ever seen my daggers looking so shiny- even when I first got them." Hawk complimented with a fake smile. It didn't look one hundred percent beautiful, but it'll do.

"Yes, yes, I get that a lot. I'll have you know I gather the finest materials for miracle-like results! Oh, and that'll be five hundred lucre!" As soon as the man turned around, he noticed there wasn't anyone to talk to anymore. "H-HEY! C-come back here..!" he shouted, only to be replied with the whoosh of the air. Even THAT seemed to ridicule the shopkeeper for keeping his guard down. That's what overjoyed people get. Disappointment.

Well, Hawk WAS a thief, after all. You can't blame him for that.

Hawk was now talking to another shopkeeper, this time, a shopkeeper at the armor shop.

"I'm sorry, my good man, but any new shipment has been delayed. I have nothing as of now." he said.

Well, disappointment visits everyone, whether you deserve it or not. "Oh, great." Hawk sulked. Well, what's the point, now?

He went outside again and thought of many other places he could probably visit- maybe to ask around how to get to Wendel or something. Hawk usually wasn't the one to ask for advice, especially not to the Priest of Light, but this one was mandatory. Great, more royalty.

"Excuse me, miss." Geez. It was so hard to act respectful for more than five minutes. He had to be kind more than five times today! "Do you happen to know how I could get to Wendel..?"

The woman thought for a while. "There's a cave just outside this village, Cave of Waterfalls, was it? That'll supposedly lead you to Wendel. I think it's blocked off, though."

_Supposedly_? Blocked off_?_ Why did that make him uneasy? Well, it's worth a shot anyway, maybe he could slice up whatever's blocking it. "Thanks.."

Now what was he going to do? If there wasn't anything else he could do as of this moment, he should probably just journey back to the inn. It'd suck if he payed for a night stay and never slept. Then again, it's not even night time yet, but he didn't get any sleep for almost two days. He'd probably end up waking up at night anyway. He was surely hoping nothing bad happens and ruins his sleep, again.

And that was when he made his way back to the inn and slept peacefully, or at least tried to. It was by mere bad luck that Hawk's sleep was once again interrupted by.. a light..?

He squinted his eyes, hoping it was just another dream. "J-Jessica.. stop it.."

His fantasy-dream could no longer continue as he jumped off the mattress and plastered his hands on the window panes. Apparently it wasn't just the moon, unless the moon suddenly turned smaller and flied in different directions. The thief was still half-asleep but continued to walk around the city anyway. There was no way this could get any weirder.

"Th-there! That's what I talked to you about!" greeted the man he had talked to before by the lake.

How could these people still be awake? The idea of waiting for a light EVERY night was too much. If they were really sure it was going to come, there's no need to watch for it.. because EVERYONE seemed to be up waiting for it.

As tired as he was, Hawk managed to lift his muscles up and find out where this stupid light came from, hoping to end this and finally get a good night sleep. That's at least what he wanted right now. Oh, and to figure out what it was, of course.

There was another round of slicing rabites and Myconids, but they seemed to be fast asleep, except for the ones who also saw the light. Forget being half asleep, Hawk could've killed these things if he was fully asleep since they didn't pose much of a threat either. It was when he finally ended up at the end of the path. There was nowhere else to go. Dang it, he missed it. Did he miss it or is it just that easy to miss..? Hawk then realized that the light had finally faded and lost its energy as he saw a minature faint spark near the flowers. The flowers were so vibrant and colorful it was easy to miss that light, which turned out to be a- minuscule.. person.. with wings?

Hawk continued to walk and examined the body shape.. Was this a butterfly? It seemed too much like a human to be a butterfly. He could see.. blonde hair.. and sapphire eyes.. this couldn't be a butterfly.

"So you're the light that keeps flying over Astoria, hm?" Hawk smiled. This little ..thing.. was actually quite cute. He wasn't mad about his sleep anymore, he just wanted to find out what this is.

"I-I've—cho..sen ...yo-you.." answered back the faint light. It wasn't scary that a butterfly was able to talk, was it..?

"Hang in there!" Hawk tried to hold the tiny person in his hands, hoping to figure out the meaning of the words she had just said. "You little fly, you better be clearer than that." He just woke up, you'd expect him to have such a cranky behavior.

"T-the Mana Tree is weak," she seemed to get more energy. That's just great; another Mana Tree story. "I am- a fairy from.. the tree- I was sent by the Goddess in search for my Mana hero- who will help me to save the Sword, and the world." she added, faintly.

Hawk stood up, the fairy still in his left palm. "No, no, no. Not another word." he said, not being the least bit interested. "You made a horrible choice. I'm not your stupid hero, alright? I just want to get my life to the way it was. If I go on your damn quest, I will never be able to finish mine."

"The G-Goddess.. can grant your wish.." the fairy spoke. "If you help save the Sword of Mana, I'll help you get what you need.."

Easier said than done.

"Please!" that small fly was now pleading. "The fate of the world now lies in your hands. Your choice will determine everyone's future, even yours."

How was that possible? If he didn't accept the offer, she'd just fly off to find someone else, right? She could've chosen someone more loyal and was happy to save the world, then he would've been able to actually SAVE it, unlike Hawk here. He was just an exile thief.. but, was it really possible to finish his mission in the first place? More importantly, would he really be able to do it alone? This was an offer, by the Goddess herself. He had just accepted to dying, what's another few days to live?

"Fine," he grumbled. This was the worst thing he's ever done, but what does he have left to begin with?

"Thank you, kind child." the fairy never sounded so grateful, it's as if she's gained all her energy back.

"I-I'm running out of energy, so I'll be unable to fly soon.." she said, hugging Hawk's thumb. She flew out of his palm and.. seemed to land on his head, then disappearing.

_Hawkeye of Navarre, can I stay in your head for a while..?_

"AAACCCCCCCCCK!" Hawk jumped in surprise. This little fly was now reading his thoughts.. no, she was IN his thoughts! How'd she even know his name..?

_What was that..? _

It seemed like the fairy heard some kind of noise, but Hawk didn't seem to hear it, and he was even the one outside. _You have to hurry back! I don't know what that was, but it sure sounded like it happened all the way back in Astoria!_

Oh great, his sleep would be interrupted.. AGAIN. What choice did he have? The two, or rather, two and half, wandered back through the forest- it was morning now, and the rabites were fully awake.

That's when they ended up back in Astoria.

Hawk gasped at the sight in front of him. He had never expected such a crisis would occur while he was gone. Astoria- that beautiful village he had seen earlier.. was now torn to shreds. All the houses were damaged and had thousands of small cracks along with the smoke coming from each window. What had happened here..?

Reading his thoughts, the fairy replied. "_The beastmen.. they invaded Astoria as well_."

Damn it! The beastmen already beat them here, too? What else did they want?

_"Hawkeye, we have to go."_

Go..? Go where?

_"To where you planned on going."_

That's right. The cave- he should probably check out that cave that leads to Wendel.

As they headed out again, this time towards the cave, they were once again greeted by an unfamiliar face. A woman, with lush magenta hair, was waiting by the cave entrance. Her attire was another story.. she seemed to be wearing.. swim wear? Well, that's what it looked like. She was wearing something like a swimsuit, a red one, that was followed by long boots. This young girl seemed to be lost, but couldn't be mistaken. Judging from the crown and her tall staff- this wasn't your regular lost girl.

"Hello, there, beautiful. How may I assist you?" Hawk winked at her, who seemed to be blushing just at the sight of him. Today was his lucky day. Two girls in one day! Oh, but he couldn't forget about Riesz, of course, but he's a ladies-man! That's what they do.

"_Is this really the time?"_ Yes, Fairy, this is the time. It always is.

"So why, may I ask, a beautiful girl such as yourself be in such a dangerous place..?" Hawk pulled back his daggers. This girl couldn't be an enemy, right?

"I'm Angela, princess of Altena." the girl introduced herself without the need to ask. So this was another princess.. Hawk really was lucky today, almost too lucky. "Long story short; my mother, the Queen of Reason, attempted to kill me for power.. to unseal a Mana Stone or something. That damn scarlet wizard.. Koren! Listen, Altena's been really chilly these days, and all my mom wants is some power to heat it up, but my mom she suddenly wanted to kill me! What, am I a sacrifice or something? This is so stupid..! All because I'm an embarrassment to her.. I-I can't learn magic, so what, now I deserve to die?"

And then she ranted and ranted, only boring the two.

"_So you want to learn magic, then..?" _

"Who ..said that? Was it you?" the young lady seemed confused.

Damn Fairy spoke out of turn! Of course it wasn't him, did she really assume he'd have such a girly voice?

"You might as well show yourself." Hawk rolled his eyes. The fairy, with her last bit of energy, gave the two a dramatic introduction, which also bored them.. even more.

The princess, though, seemed very interested, like she thought it'd add to her new doll collecting or something similar.

"I am a Fairy sent by the Goddess to look for the three legendary heroes to save the withering Mana Tree and protect the Sword..!" she finally exposed herself.

Wait, did she say THREE heroes? Why wasn't he informed of this?

"If you come with us to Wendel, I'm sure you'll get the answer and the help you'll need." the fairy offered.

WAIT A MINUTE, stupid fairy. Why is she suddenly offering this girl to come? Yes, she might be pretty for Hawk, but he surely wouldn't want her to ruin his mission.. but that's another thing. This isn't his mission anymore, is it.. but still! The fairy never asked for his consent!

"ALRIGHT!" the girl shouted in glee. "I'LL DO IT! AND BEAT THAT BASTARD KOREN WITH MY MAGIC! I came here in search for Wendel, but the ship I went on landed in Jad.. apparently it'd been invaded by those giant wolf things as well. I had no choice but to come here.. but this cave was sealed off. BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER! I'LL PUMELL ANYTHING THAT COMES IN MY WAY!"

Easy there, you didn't learn anything magic yet, alright..?

Despite the new and possibly tiring mission, meeting two beautiful princesses was quite a good experience. And that was until a familiar face showed up.

"HEY, HAWK! Did you miss me..?" another girl asked, running vigorously, almost out of breath.

"RIESZ..?"

Today was a good day indeed. Too good.

...

First chapter done... this one was long, at least for me it was. Don't expect all chapters to be this long, alright? This was actually posted later since I'm new, and FF won't let me post anything for two days. D: Mean people.

PLEAAAAAAAASE REVIEW! :)

:3

By the way, did I tell ever tell you I feel like Bigieu today? :D

Hawk: Oh hi, little kitty! Want some kitty trea- HOLY SH**.. EVIL KITTY!  
>Rieszeye: nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. :3 *transforms back*<p>

Hawk: O_...I WILL GET YOU BAAAA~CK! Until then, please review~ :)


	2. The Demonic Wendel Royalty

**Action starts at Chapter Three**, everyone, but please bare with this one. I've added some cool parts to this as well! As usual, please review; I'm desperate! Oh, and this is a bit shorter than chapter one, of course. I wanted this chapter to basically be more focused on character development, so there will be a lot of dialogue here! ^_^

*Disclaimers are over with.

Demons With Arches

Chapter 2 – The Demonic Wendel Royalty

by Rieszeye

...

...

..

.

"J-Jessica.." Hawk murmured, enclosed in his blankets.

"W-what is it with that name..?" a paranoid Riesz whispered to Angela, who seemed to be too occupied in preening, like her looks and.. attire.. weren't enough to get dozens of men to gather around her. Hawk sure was lucky. He'd be saving the world with two beautiful princesses.. literally.

"So we have to travel with him, huh..?" Angela dropped the hairbrush on the desk. The inn in Wendel sure was big. "He did save our butts big time back at the cave. Who knew he'd be so fast!"

Surely hoping her rival, er.. ally, wasn't blushing, Riesz sat down beside her and examined her face. "Don't be getting any wrong ideas, Ange, this guy's a whole lot of trouble. Who knows what a bad influence he might have on us!"

"On _you_, you mean. Why do you have to get me involved in your doubts?" the pink-haired maiden spat.

"And surely that means you dearly enjoy my company, right, Riesz?" a just-woken-up Hawk interrupted. And who knew he'd be in a great mood today. Wait, were they forgetting someone..?

"Oh, Hawk! Thank goodness you're awake!" chimed a faint, squeaky voice; one they really hoped would never be heard.

"Damn it, I thought we got rid of you at the cave." Angela sulked. "Weren't you eaten by the bats or something..?"

Well, they wished she was. It wasn't that the Fairy was all that annoying, but she sure did ruin the mood, what with her non-stop talking about their priorities and such. Didn't she know these people had lives? Especially Hawk, imagine what it'd be like to explore a cave with three noisy women.

The trip through the cave was one hell of a nightmare. Everywhere you went, zombies were wandering everywhere you'd think would be clear. Especially for Angela, she'd complained countless times that the infamous bats kept ruining her hair. That probably wasn't near the life of the royalty, Hawk wondered a couple of times. Too occupied by her hair again, Angela left Hawk and Riesz to fight on their own, but Riesz didn't mind. How could she? She'd get some alone time with that seductive thief.. which probably sounds risky, but it's better than listening to the Fairy, who they left in Angela's care. And THAT's why they figured she was long killed.

"I'll have you know, just because I'm small, doesn't mean I'm helpless." the Fairy argued, coming out of hiding again. She had apparently slept inside the opened drawer of Angela's jewelery. If only she closed it before sleeping..! "What happened to the great personalities you three had before?"

"They disappeared once we got in the cave." Riesz stood up, heading for the bathroom. "Your were a little too.. loud." It wasn't the nagging that was the problem, it's the fact that they could hear it. If she said it in a softer voice they couldn't hear, they would've happily ignored it.

"I was simply advising you what you should do next. If it weren't for me, you would've never been able to get out of that cave alive." the Fairy put on her arrogant look.

"Thank you very much, Fairy." Angela blocked Riesz's path to the bathroom. "I need to go in there first."

"Whaa-?" It was another princess bash on who would be able to go into the bathroom first. "It's about time I'd get a chance to get in there! You were practically born there!"

This was proving out to be more of a nuisance for Hawk, like he could even expect anything more with his great team. He'd be more of the focused character of course, and now with this new 'epic' mission to save the world, how could anyone expect two, er, two and a half LADIES to accompany you possible make it any less tragic? No, it wasn't the distractions, well, that was most of it, but other than that, that'd mean he'd be hearing these kinds of arguments every now and then. Now THAT was tragic. And he thought having to save Jessica and all was already proving to be difficult, and what's worse? He now has the fate of the world lying on his shoulders. Just him. It's not like the other two are actually coming along for the same purpose, they're just tagging along for the sake of their own little problems.. and to be by Hawk's side while doing so. This.. wasn't what he had expected.. at all.

"Look," he tried his best to control his temper. After all, he _is _dealing with two princesses."I'm trying my very best to keep up with two very attractive girls, but I don't think this is working out."

Wait, what did he just say?

That statement was suddenly misinterpreted by the three girls. You could tell by the sudden halt in their argument. They wondered if that meant he had rejected their confession.. wait, they didn't even have one yet. What could this guy be possibly talking about?

"I-I don't mean, well," he stuttered.

"I understand." Riesz stated politely, which gave Hawk a bit of a relief. "Well, that's good." He smiled.

"You think Angela's being too bothersome and you'd like some more alone time with me!" the amazoness princess shouted in glee.

Oh boy, this was going to be harder than he thought. And what's worse, the Fairy, out of all the people in the world, had to be in the conversation.

"What part of THREE did you not understand?" she blurted out of nowhere on his shoulder.

"You didn't tell me that before I accepted! I never signed up for this.. it's bad enough I have to deal with you, and now I have to deal with.. THEM .. everyday!" It was a little bit easier to just talk in his head, later on realizing the fact that the two princesses were staring at him, making faces with no words coming out. They probably thought he was an idiot.

"I thought you liked the accompaniment of two beautiful ladies!" the Fairy retorted.

At least she didn't say 'three'. "Normally I do, but this whole thing is serious for me.. and they don't seem to be of any help.." Hawk reasoned out. If it weren't a mission, he'd surely love having them around, but this is another story.

"Anyway," he then completely ignored the still-blabbering voice. Was this what having a conscience felt like? At least she wasn't in his head like yesterday. "Riesz, I thought I told you to wait with Duran.."

"I did, but then he started telling me about his story and I got bored. So, I stormed off." Riesz delightfully explained. Dear god, what is this..?

"Oh, that really handsome knight? I remember him!" Angela suddenly peered in from the bathroom. Thank goodness she was wearing clothes, although what she considered to be 'clothes' were.. lacking some things. "I was sleeping at the inn and he suddenly became all perverted and started staring at me! It wasn't when I woke up that I noticed how attractive he was, well, not since after I beat him up with my staff, but he wasn't that bad. Apparently he was just looking for something he dropped.."

Yeah, right. Since when was that a valid excuse for snooping?

"So, what _was_ his story, huh?" Angela suddenly remembered what Riesz had said.

"He wasn't pretty clear, but he said something about a wizard with a red cape who suddenly threatened the king of Forcena or something like that.. so I think he wants to get stronger."

Typical..

"THAT DAMN KOREN." Angela loudly closed the bathroom door. "I'll get him for that...!"

"Did you say you're from Altena, or something?" Hawk brought up another point.

"Yeah," she faintly replied. "Everyone there is too obsessed with the power of Mana.. Mother said they need it to warm up our snowy climate. Not even her power was enough. To unseal a Mana Stone, you'd need to sacrifice a life.. and mother told me that since I was a disappointment to the royal family, you know, having no magic and all, that I'd rather sacrifice my life for it..."

The room was filled with silence after that brief statement. There really wasn't anything else to talk about.

"We should get going." Riesz announced. "Who knows what we'll need to do after talking to this so-called 'Priest of Light'. I mean, after a protagonist talks to someone wise, they always end up having a thousand things to do to fulfill their goal, right?"

Ah, that was true.

The other two nodded as they payed the innkeeper their thanks and headed out the door. Wendel was a nice, quiet place that gave them chills. It was either the weather or this whole city was just too holy for them. Whatever the case, this Priest of Light better be something. They travelled all the way here for him, hoping that he'd solve their problems.

Just as they had met these awkward men with weird hats, they were certain the Priest was near. Uneasiness suddenly portruded their hearts, especially Riesz's. As high and mighty and popular as this Priest may be, what are the chances her brother will be found? Yes, Hawk and Angela's problems are reasonable and should be solved with his help, but her problem was different. How can you easily get a kidnapped prince back?

"Are you the Priest of Light?" Angela frowned as she looked up and- to her surprise, the man was just an old man with the same hat as the others. Wise men have to be old it seemed.

"How can a hag like you solve my proble-" She was suddenly interrupted by the back of a hand. "Angela, it'd be best if we were kind to this man..." Hawk suggested. Well, yeah. He's the one they needed help from anyway.

"Priest," she finally calmed herself down. "I need your... guidance.." she almost choked when she heard herself say those words.

"You are..?" The Priest tried his best not to anger her again. "Angela- the Princess of Altena!" she snapped.

"You're.. Valda's daughter..?"

"Hn. Why are you so shocked? Didn't think the Queen of Reason would have a daughter? I'm as shocked as you are, believe it or not..! That- she- tried to ..kill me! She needed to unseal a Mana Stone with a forbidden spell to warm up Altena." Angela fell on her knees. Riesz, Hawk and the fairy, wherever she was, stepped back.

"And that forbidden spell- requires to sacrifice a life..? H-how could she attempt to kill her own daughter! I-I thought she was the Queen of Reason!"

Angela stood up. What was she doing, crying like that? "Enough questions, old fart!" she suddenly changed personalities. "I need to know-"

Again, she was brutally interrupted, this time, by the painful swat of Riesz's arm which sent her flying until her back made bad contact with the wall. "Argh.. HEY!" she screamed, massaging her aching back.

"P-Priest of Light, my name is Riesz, Princess of Rolante! A few days ago.. Navarre ninjas invaded the Rolante Castle and kidnapped my brother, Elliot.. Please, tell me what I should do..!" she pleaded.

"Navarre- invaded Rolante? Hey, you, over there!" The angry Priest pointed to Hawk, who wore a confused look. "By those clothes- are you a thief from Navarre..?"

How did he-

"Yes," Hawk calmly admitted. He slowly took a few steps forward and gestured Riesz to move aside, in which she gladly obeyed. At least she wasn't slapped to the wall.

"I'm here because I'm considered a traitor to Navarre. Of course, our people would never do such a thing as invade other territories! This is all a result of Isabella's doing- she mainpulated our leader, she killed my best friend Eagle and cursed his sister Jessica." Surprisingly he was able to pull that off with a straight face nonetheless. "That damn Isabella put a cursed necklace on her and if Isabella dies, Jessica would share the same fate.. so I need to know how to cure her from the curse.."

"Well, why didn't you take off the damn necklace in the first place, genius?" Angela shouted from the corner.

"It's not as easy as that." Hawk retorted. "If I do so much as inform her about it, Isabella would've killed her, just like that. Besides, the guards captured me after they thought I had killed Eagle and locked me in jail.. Nikita had helped me escape that horrible place.."

And who was this.. Nikita?

"Cursed necklace, huh?" the Priest repeated with a hint of doubt. "I apologize, I don't know how to disable a curse. Honestly, I have never heard of a spell that curses the wearer.. it must be forbidden!"

"So far, you've been very helpful to us, Priest." Angela commented sarcastically as she stood up, grabbing her staff. "All I want is to learn magic! Can you help ME at least?"

"Y-yes.. of course!" To her surprise, the Priest of Light actually didn't mind her annoying personality. "The eight spirits can help give you magic. I'm not certain all of them will, but you'll definitely learn magic that way. And- after class-changing, you can continue to learn more and become more powerful..!"

Alright, this was enough. After a few more conversations, the fairy had finally exposed herself once more. Where could this shining ball of nags have been hiding?

"Priest of Light, I need your help!"

_I_? So all of this was basically for her own good.

"It's- it's a Fairy..!" the old man exclaimed, shaking a bit.

"Creepy, huh?" Angela moved to the back. She got what she had wanted anyway.

"Is there something happening to Mana? I heard it's growing weak.. does that mean..?"

"I've gathered these three to help me in saving Mana, Priest of Light. What- should we-."

"So can you save Elliot or what?" the ever-persistent Riesz shouted.

"Not even he cares, Riesz." Angela muttered.

Tired of all the commotion, the Priest stood up. "The Goddess can give you what you wish for!" he exclaimed as all four calmed down. The Priest of Light was relieved. They had finally stopped arguing. Hawk didn't even bother saying a word.

"Go to the Holyland where she sleeps and I'm sure if you help her save Mana, she'll do whatever you ask. In the meantime, gather the eight spirits starting with the spirit of Light, Wisp, who's in the very cave you just came out of."

That's great! They had to come back to THAT place. Riesz was right. There are always a million things to do after talking to wise men.

"Thank you, Priest of Light," the Fairy tried her best to give him thanks since she knew fairly well how stressed he must have been from the noisy children. The Priest nodded and the four ended up outside, being greeted by a new.. minature face.

"It's a two-foot MONSTER..!" Angela shrieked in fear. "And we're not even in the cave yet..!"

She quickly gripped her staff and swung it so high in the air, you could pummell even a bear. The sad thing was, she missed.

"EEK!" the two-foot monster also shrieked. That little missed shot scared even... it.

"I think it's a little.. girl." Hawk bent down, caressing the little girl's cheek, which made her glance at the thief's topaz eyes for a moment. A sweet laugh emerged from her mouth, and Angela creeped up closer to it.

Suddenly, she was greeted by an unexpected swing of a weapon she had never seen before- a ball and chain. To her surprise, Hawk had swiftly pushed her out of the way before evading the weapon himself. Angela was hardly able to stand still as the little maniac started chasing her.

"AAAACCCCKK! WHY IS IT CHASING ME..?" The Princess ran away. For some reason, the girl seemed to treat this as a game of tag.

"You be mean to Carlie! Now Carlie be mean to you!" the little elf.. cheered. "Don't ever be mean to Carlie ever again or you regret it!"

Someone missed one or two English classes.

"Who's .. Carlie?" Riesz asked. Angela was still apparently playing tag with the little menace and Hawk was sitting down on the porch.

"_I'M_ CARLIE!" she exclaimed. Then what's with this third-person talk?

"GET HER OFF OF ME!" The day was just getting noisier and noisier. Now with Hawk even annoyed, he stood up and sighed, heading for ..Carlie. By the time he caught up to her, he gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her over his head, her legs dangling down his shoulders. Angela started panting as Hawk ran.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Carlie sure enjoyed the ride, and Hawk was, too, despite the fact that he had only done this to shut her up. She let go of her weapon as Riesz picked it up, signaling Hawk that he could at last let her go, which he did. "Why you stop? Carlie wanna ride again!"

The annoying baby threw tantrums and started vigorously scratching Hawk's face and neck with her sharp nails without hesitation. It's as if she were a cat and the thief was her sofa.

"Unh," Hawk held one of her wrists, which broke free after a while. It's not like he could use his daggers. After all, he couldn't possibly hurt a girl, unless it was Isabella.

"You little bi-, you little elf, stop hurting him..!" Angela exposed her staff once more, with Riesz and her lance right beside her.

"If you don't stop, we won't give your weapon back." Riesz threatened the little girl, holding the ball and chain up in the air, as if ready to throw it away. Not that it would break, but of course she'd fall for it.

"N-noo! That my weapon! You give it back!" She screamed.

"Then let go of him, you monster!" Angela added. After a while, Carlie pouted and released the thief, whose face and neck were covered with painful scratches. His expression was nothing but the same, of course, he was just a little shocked about how aggressive that little elf was. Carlie quickly ran to Riesz as if she were ready to do the same thing, but not before Hawk caught up and blocked her path, the back of his hand plastered onto her forehead.

"If you hurt her, imagine what your little weapon would experience," Hawk tried to sound as nice but as threatening as possible, bending down again. He fluffed her curly blonde hair which was half-covered by what seemed like a Jester's hat. "If you want it back, be a good girl, okay?" he smiled, with the fifty or so scratches still embedded on his face.

Riesz slowly handed her the weapon, still full of doubt. After a few more minutes, she skipped happily and left, leaving the four tired and.. wait. Where _was_ the fourth member?

A bright light suddenly emerged from nowhere. "Hawk, are you okay..?"

"I'll manage. Speaking of which, where were y-"

"You useless fly, where were you? Are you always going to hide when danger strikes?" Angela enclosed the fairy with her fingers, as if ready to squeeze her into bits.

"That was the Priest's granddaughter, Charlotte. I think she has the ability to heal if I recall correctly." the Fairy disregarded Angela's words and flew away.

"The Priest was one annoying guy, I'm not surprised." Riesz laid her lance down on the grass beside the porch. "She should've at least healed the people whom she injured, you know."

Good point. At least then she wouldn't be that useless.

"Chances are this won't be the last time she'll show up. Come to think of it, she might be a bit useful in our journey if you keep getting injured like that!" The Fairy went on.

"Easy for you to say! It's not our fault someone wasn't there to help. You practically need us for you safety, damn it! And if you think we're going to let that little .. thing.. join, us, you can forget it!" Angela stomped off. "I'm going back to the inn."

And besides, didn't the Fairy say THREE people..?

"That's a great idea. We'll need to rest up for tomorrow. We need to get Wisp, remember?" Riesz followed after her. Tomorrow would be another round of screaming and injuries, not to mention the horror of what could be in that cave. They've already been there once, but it seems as if there's something else that lurks there.. a spirit... or perhaps some new enemies to be encountered.

The Fairy moved her attention to the thief. "Does it hurt?" The scratches were definitely noticeable, even for a small person like her. Hawk wasn't really frowning, he was just staring at the ground, one of his usual pasttimes. "Hey, I asked you if it-"

"No." Hawk moved his glare to her.

"That's good."

...

"Ahhhh; food tastes so much better when you're hungry!" Riesz occupied the whole couch in the inn with her plate of fresh complimentary food.

"No shit, Sherlock." Angela commented. "Hey, Hawk, you want any more soup?"

"Ah, no thanks." Hawk had come out of the bathroom with a towel hanging over his shirtless body. He proceeded into his bed and sat down, completely ignoring the fact that everyone was sitting around the table except him. He was just so eager for the feeling of his head to finally make contact with the soft pillows and enclose himself in the blankets. He had never missed so much rest in his time at the Thieves' Guild.

"Hey, I hear there's a weapon and armor shop here in Wendel. You guys ought to check it out before we leave tomorrow." the Fairy flew near the table. Of course she couldn't eat so she'd end up just staring at the food.

"Not right now," Riesz rejected. "I think my lance is still in good shape, right, Hawk?"

Hawk winced as he remembered the horrible memory of that lance beating up herds of beastmen in five seconds. He wouldn't want that to come in contact with him, that's for sure. Without replying, he simply smirked and indicated he'd rather stay at the inn. He had been looking for some new daggers but it didn't matter anymore. He was able to kill bats and zombies without help from Angela and the Fairy anyway.

"I'll go! I think my staff's all dirty.." Angela stood up and placed her plate in the sink. Her staff wasn't just dirty, it had scratches all over, much like Hawk's face right now.

That's right. No one could forget what that Carlie had done to the thief.

"Alright, I'll come with you then." the Fairy rested in Angela's shoulders. "I want to experience the evening breeze once more.."

When the two headed out and the door clicked, Riesz headed inside the bathroom. Hawk stayed lying down on his bead, clutching his daggers to his forehead, the blade covering the blinding light.

Riesz came out with a bucket of water and a soaked towel and walked near Hawk, who had a puzzled expression. "And that is..?"

"Your wounds." was the amazoness' reply. "You don't want them to get infected now, do you?"

She smiled while awaiting her patient's reply. Hawk sat up and lowered his daggers onto the floor and removed the towel, which gestured Riesz to continue.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill the elf," she snickered as she lay the soaked towel on the thief's face, which gained her a pained movement. It seemed the wounds didn't heal yet.

"Hold still." she ordered, gently holding his head as she continued to submerge the wounds. At least they weren't that deep. The fact that Hawk was still sane after being scratched by what seemed like a two year-old was surprising enough. If that had been Angela or herself, that Carlie might've ended up dead.

"I can't hurt girls," the ladies-man smiled. "Unless it were.. Isabella." he had remembered thinking about that before. Maybe nightmares really did visit him even if he was conscious.

"Don't mention her." Riesz frowned, softly rubbing his head. "If it ends up eating you alive, I'd rather not hear that from you." Hawk looked at the ground and slightly nodded. A few minutes later, she had felt his skin shiver a bit after the towel withdrew.

Riesz looked back at the thief's body, with some new.. scars?

"Hey, where did you get these deep wounds..?" Riesz looked as if she were about to cry. What had happened to her ally? The wounds were definitely still bleeding.

"When I fought with Eagle.. and when I fought some Beastmen too." the thief didn't even frown. Riesz slowly laid a hand on the wounds to wipe out some of the blood, which gained her more pained quivering.

"What's wrong? Is it that painful?"

"N-no, I'm just.. a bit cold." he answered.

"Oh, right!" Riesz quickly ran to the bathroom to find his vest still hanging on the towel rack. Even if it was still summer, the nighttime was always cold, especially with fans in the inn. She handed the vest back to the thief who gave back a grin. After wearing the vest, he then noticed how filthy the cloth was. The amazoness stepped back and smirked.

"And you didn't want to go to the armor shop."

Hawk's topaz eyes met Riesz' sapphire eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, softly.

"Why are you apologizing, you can visit tomorrow! And strong men don't say sorry, silly!" she tried her best to lighten up the mood.

"No, I meant about.. earlier."

"Oh.."

Riesz then remembered the words the thief had said in the morning.. about how much of a nuisance the girls would be and the many examples he had given. She often wondered whether he meant them or not, as despite the fact that the girls didn't seem to mind, they were hurt quite a bit. It was still there.

"Don't worry," she didn't want him to know about her sensitivity, of course. "Hey, we have a long journey tomorrow. Forget about the others, we need to rest. Especially you, you're injured. Good night!"

Without a word, Hawk enclosed himself in his blankets again and tried his best to forget about everything; everything about Isabella, everything about Eagle and everything about Jessica. This will all be solved one way or another, right?

..

THERE. :D Sorry for being late. Again, this is character development and action starts at Chapter THREEEEE. Please review! And thanks for reading!


	3. Ending up at the Start

You'll finally see some action! And now I present to you ,[somewhere in the chapter] my battle scenes! This is my style of writing and describing battles, usually by strategy. Please review on what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreaciated.

By the way, I changed a little bit of the story here.

A bit of warning: This chapter has somewhat bad language here, hehe. Viewer discretion, I guess?

Demons With Arches

Chapter 3 – Ending up at the Start

by Rieszeye

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...

..

.

It wasn't until morning that Hawk had realized he had finally been able to have a peaceful rest- free from all his worries, problems and injuries from Carlie. That feeling, of course, subsided once he had gone back to consciousness. He had clearly forgotten that the real world wasn't what it was like in his slumber dreams, and that those problems would always come to haunt you back, much like Carlie. After a brief moment, he sighed at the realisation that he wouldn't be able to rest that much from today onwards. Back at Navarre, he was used to waking up with that excitement of what he was going to steal, er.. do at that morning. Things weren't that similar here. The thief's eyes wandered the room starting from the ceiling onto Angela's still-sleeping body and onto an empty bed. Wait, empty bed?

"What the hell! Where's Riesz?" Hawk popped out of his covers. With a tired yawn, Angela managed to pull herself up, not looking the least bit pleased. "Do I care..?" she said, tryed her best to put emotion in her voice. What time did she come back from weapon shopping yesterday anyway? "Hey, the Fairy's gone too.." she added. Maybe it was Riesz's time to go shopping with the Fairy. Other than that, she really didn't have a use anyway, so she might as well look over their safety. "I'm going to go look for her." Hawk announced, wearing his shoes and halway through the door. There's a huge possibilty that she's shopping, but there's also that small possibility that she's been held hostage by the demonic Wendel citizens. They've seen Carlie, right? And not to mention the Priest, who knows what kind of people live here?

"Hey, don't leave me here!" Angela put on her 'pity me' expression. She naturally had to go with the thief so they again payed the innkeeper their thanks and headed outside. Wendel was still the same holy place as yesterday, that's for sure.

After agreeing to visit the armor shop first, they entered just to be greeted by.. oh, great.

"NOOO! NO! WHY IS _SHE_ HERE..?" Angela brutally grabbed Hawk by the shoulders and pushed him in front of her.

"Hey, can you be a bit more gent- hi there, Carlie!" Hawk greeted with a pat on the little girl's head. She found it quite soothing and therefore ended up hugging the thief's right leg.

"Hey, that's not your scratching post, you little demon!" Angela thought twice about grabbing _her_ after what happened to Hawk yesterday.

Why on earth was she here, again? Angela finally had the night of her life yesterday when _it_ had left.. but she was most certain that that abomination wouldn't leave her alone for the rest of her life.. especially after what the Fairy had said the day before. She surely hoped that butterfly really hadn't meant the fact that they'd let.. her.. join the team. At least let her be the least bit comfortable while saving the world! Oh, and her LIFE while she was at it.

"Carlie found other blonde lady and butterfly here so now I look for you!" she explained, continuing to embrace the thief's leg.

Crap, what did she do with THEM? It's not like this little thing could be capable of doing such bad things, but if she were capable of doing such a thing to Hawk, they'd better think again. Didn't the Fairy say something about her being the Priest's granddaughter or something? It's not surprising that two annoying people would be related to each other. Or maybe Wendel people really are like this everyday.

"You were looking for us?" Hawk questioned, pushing her away as gently as possible.

"Well now you found us!" Angela fake-smiled. "Now you can go back to your weird grandfather and LEAVE US ALONE, PLEASE?" Hawk walked back a few steps towards the princess.

"Hey, I'm sure even she could understand that if you put emphasis on those last words!" So much for acting. The two watched closely as the little girl's eyes began to swell and produce tears. Oh no.

"WAA-" Thankfully Hawk was able to swiftly cover her mouth with one hand and stop her other hand from swinging that ball and chain. For the love of goddess, THAT was still there..?"Carlie just wanna go with you! Other lady and butterfly already say yes!"

"Come again..?" Angela pushed Hawk back as she creeped up nearer and nearer to the girl. Well, this scene is a lot more terrifying than when Carlie scratched Hawk. Who knows what she could do?

Wait, let's backtrack. The Fairy said this wouldn't be the last time they'd see this monster and suggested to have her along for her healing purposes... they didn't think she MEANT that! They simply thought it was a form of teasing due to the Fairy's knowledge that they extremely HATE this.. girl, and now she delightfully said yes? Alright, the Fairy was one thing, but Riesz? There's no way she could've accepted the fact that Carlie would be going with them unless she were possessed.

"There's no way they allowed you to come," Angela was two inches away from hitting her with her staff until she heard another familiar voice.

"Actually, we did." Riesz emerged from the trees with the Fairy. Oh, they were going to get it.

Hawk ran up to Riesz. "You know how much she'll be a nuisance, right? What were you thinking?" he whispered. Fortunately, he got rid of that depressed expression from yesterday night.

"Think of how helpful a HEALER is..! I mean, where do you see those these days, right? I know Angela hates the girl to the bone but this is mandatory! She has her own problems and asked if she could come along so her wish would come true. It's hard to resist that kind of offer, even if she can be a prick sometimes."

Sometimes?

"Well, Angela and I disapprove." He had hoped that wouldn't hurt her again.

"Well, it's two against two," the Fairy spoke. "How should we beat the ti-"

"TWO AGAINST TWO, MY ASS." Angela started panting from running all the way from the armor shop. "It's two against one and a half, so we win!" Unless, the Fairy counts as one whole person. Does she?

"HEY! Listen, just imagine how useful a healer can be! You don't have to worry about injuries slowing you down, right?" the Fairy shouted.

They can all agree that having a healer would give them all an advantage, but if the healer constantly kills you inside, what's the advantage in that? Normally, Riesz would just want what's best for the team, or what she THINKS is best for the team. The Fairy obviously just wants life to be easy. And Hawk and Angela.. what do they want? Peace. But they can't forget the task at hand. Even if her joining the team will just ruin the chances of the team EVER finding peace, she will lighten the burdens of the future and make having to be with her... shorter.

"Fine, I guess." Hawk stood up.

"YAAAAAAAAY!" Carlie cheered.

"Erm.. okay, fine! Get that demon in our group. Just remember, if she ends up killing us all, don't come blaming it on me! But hey, I thought you said only three people can-"

"Screw the rules," the Fairy spat.

Wow. Who knew a Fairy sent by the Goddess of all people could do something like that, let alone say it. "Alright, now that that's decided, we don't have that much time, I hope we could at least find Wisp before nighttime. Who knows how long it'll take us to get to him."

The other four nodded as they finally made their way once more to the infamous Cave of Waterfalls where they had came from. Whoopty-doo, they were once again greeted by zombies, bats and all the rest. They were poisoned countless times and had to rely on Carlie to cure them. To their surprise, that little demon was actually capable of summoning what seemed like Machine Golems – these weird things that were rumored to be a pain in the butt. And as if this couldn't get any weirder, she even managed to summon.. Unicorn Heads..? The rest of the team often wondered when she had the chance to learn all of these spells.. and they were just dying to ask..

"Hey Carlie.. how'd you get the chance to.. learn those neat summoning spells?" Riesz stopped her for a while. Angela stood in shock as she witnessed Riesz complementing her worst enemy. It's wasn't like she didn't want information, though. She was quite impressed herself, what with the way a little devil like Carlie can actually summon other beings, for the love of goddess.

"Carlie.. saw stone!" she explained. "Touched it and light appeared..! Then Carlie felt stronger and look different.. into Enchantress!"

_Different_? Obviously the others were dumbfounded, since they recently met her the way she was now. How could they have known she had looked different from that?

"I-Impossible..! You class-changed?" the Fairy appeared in astonishment. "You need to have had so much experience and willpower to do that.. are you telling me you were mentally, physically and spiritually redeemed to change classes? How- but you're only seven or eight years old.."

Dumbfounded again, Hawk, Riesz and Angela stood there, hoping the conversation would go somewhere; to their benefit, preferrably.

"CARLIE NO EIGHT! CARLIE FIFTEEN!" she stomped, quickly being shushed by Hawk. At this rate, she'll cause fifty bats to come out of hiding.

Angela suddenly thought about it.. "I don't understand. Carlie's only fifteen and she already changed classes, but I'm NINETEEN, for goddess' sake, and I can't? Are you messing with us just so you can prolong our being here to help you on this Mana mission or whatever? We're older, meaning we should've been more 'physically and spiritually prepared than her."

Hawk and Riesz would have said something, 'would have' being the key to that sentence. At one point, their realisation of the same concept had finally entered. Why _couldn't_ they class-change? Hawk knew very well that he, being seventeen, deserve to change classes more than Carlie.. who had no purpose. Wait, did she?

"By the way Carlie, why did you want to class-change in the first place? Is there someone who's bullying you?" Riesz seemed to have read Hawk's thoughts.

"Carlie needa save Heathie from bad man!" she suddenly put on her determined face, which was still cute overall. "Heath by Carlie's side ever since Carlie lost mama and papa. Grampa send Heath to city called Astoria and bad man kidnap him." They were awfully amazed she didn't sob at what she just said. And so Carlie.. was actually going through all the training and preparations.. for this so-called Heath?

"I still don't understand why we can't change classes like her.." Angela was suddenly jealous of her?

"Don't get me wrong, you can class change. I suppose your very will to be here pretty much sums it up that you're mentally and spiritually prepared. Physically, I'm not entirely sure. Hawk," she called, moving her attention to him once again. "Hawk should be both physically and mentally prepared. I'm quite certain Riesz is prepared in every single way just by looking at her.. although I'm not quite sure."

Yeah right. She just likes Riesz because she went through with letting Carlie in the team. If it weren't for her, Hawk nor Angela would've allowed it. The trio.. well, the five-o, continued to walk down, fighting through every enemy they came across while still being able to talk to each other. They were practically used to it by now. Hey, they just came out of this cave yesterday.

"Hey, you left out spiritually prepared." Hawk pointed out.

"You're a thief, goddess damn it!" Angela turned around, angry at the fact that she knew what the Fairy would say about her.

"Angela.. you're mentally prepared..." Riesz stated it for her.

After a few more seconds of waiting, Angela reached her limit.

"THAT'S IT?"

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE WORTH MORE?" the amazoness argued.

"I'M AT LEAST MORE WORTH IT THAN YOU."

For the love of-

"Ladies, I do hope you notice that giant crab right in front of you." Hawk lightly tapped both of the girls' shoulders, immediately gaining their attention. "Oh, don't look at me. Look behind you."

...

"GIANT CRABBY HEALED!" Carlie shouted after witnessing the most grotesque crab-like beast that was at least fifty times her size. And that was just the body. The team hadn't realized they were trapped from the earthquake that seafood had caused just by moving closer to them. It didn't matter; if it was looking for a fight, it got one. The five were fully prepared. They had the strength, the Fairy's guidance and Carlie's healing. They were lacking magic, but after they met this so-called light spirit, Angela should be able to benefit from his blessings. Hopefully.

"The real fight begins after we take out the eyes and break its shell. Then his bare body should be easy to destroy." the Fairy explained. Maybe she wasn't all that useless after all, but it's not like the rest couldn't see that for themselves.

Riesz blasted away with her lance, cutting open the crab's shell in as quick as a few seconds, which was then followed by Angela's hard hit with her staff and after a while, Carlie managed to pummell it with her ball and chain a couple of times as well. Of course the crack only measured in about ten centimeters, but it gradually grew more and more. The girls then aimed for both eyes- making sure that they'd still be able to evade its attacks.

With a solid determination, Hawk swiftly appeared from one side to another, hoping to confusing the crab. It was scary enough to appear a few inches away from it, so he often threw a few poisoning materials which appeared to look like eyes.. probably from the other enemies in the cave. Once the crab was successfully confused and dizzy, the girls yet again hit the shell and targeted the eyes. The strategy seemed to working out quite well. By the time they knew it, one eye already perished.

"Backslash!" the thief yelled, gracefully spinning in a circle with his daggers landing on the crab's shell, increasing the crack even more than Riesz had done. That spin sure portrayed a dancer of some sort, but of course having to be a thief would need for that kind of technique.

After a few more slashes and slicing, the crack grew wider and wider until it had fully broken, exposing the extremely disgusting bare body of the creature. They could finally finish this once and for all.

"Whirlwind Lance!" Riesz announced, whirling her lance up in the air which again landed on the crab's naked body. Oh wow, that should've hurt. After unleashing the attack, it made her a bit tired, but she still managed to have some strength left in her. Suddenly, she noticed an enormous cut on her finger by one of the broken pieces of the shell. Not minding the pain, she grabbed a handful of them and quickly whipped them onto the crab's skin. After hearing the pained cries, Hawk did one last slice and Angela pierced its remaining eye with her staff. "Double Attack!"

"Bonkle!" Carlie soon followed.

At last, the crab finally lost its remaining eye and turned a ruby red color as if ready to explode. A few seconds later, it turned into dust and ashes as the team had finally won.. against THAT.

Hawk sighed. "What was that thing anyway?"

"The Full Metal Hugger," the Fairy replied. "I do sense Wisp here.. I just don't know where he could be."

"Hey! Did someone mention my name?" cried a faint voice that chirped from beneath the rocks. That Full Metal Hugger sure destroyed the place before dying.

"I'm Wisp!" To their surprise, it was just a white flame floating up in the air. So was this the spirit of light the Fairy had been talking about? He does look a lot like what they thought spirits would look like.

"Hey Wisp, I'm Angela of Altena, and I need your help quick!" without no time to waste, Angela stepped in. There was no time for any more introductions, her needs were waiting! "I need to learn magic as soon as possible, do you think you can give good ol' me a few blessings, huh?" She then heard Hawk and Riesz slap their foreheads at the same time behind her. Ignoring the haste, Wisp floated on top of her, enclosing her in a soft white light. "Sure, Angela, I'd be willing to shine on someone who agreed to save the world!"

Oh, right. They had to save the world for it. After Wisp had finally floated away, Angela felt herself bathed in magic power; a feeling she had never once felt in her life. It felt great.

"Wisp, please lend us your strength." the Fairy pleaded and the spirit of Light smiled and nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Wisp. And Angela, you better not be thinking of testing your new magic right now. If you do, then we'll never be able to get out."

The only opening available in that cave was a mere hole that only one person could fit in at a time – and you had to crouch too. If Angela had tried even a little bit to call on Wisp's magic, they'd be stuck there forever, which would've been such a frightening thought. Lowering her staff, the magician growled at the fact that at some point, the Fairy might've read her mind. It did save their lives, though.

"GO, GO!" Carlie popped up. They had completely forgotten SHE was there. "We hafta go save world and Heathie!"

They would be fine with saving the world, and eventually they'd leave her to save her precious Heathie all alone. At least they would've done what they needed to.

"So Carlie, how were you able to change classes..?" Riesz brought up another good point as one by one, they crouched through the hole and continued walking forward. She didn't want to say how much she wondered how someone as small as her could be spiritually, mentally and PHYSICALLY prepared. That statement probably would just gain her contact with the ball and chain.

"Carlie met furry friend.." she began. "Furry friend also lost one he cared about so he train me."

Wow, someone was actually capable of putting up with her for so long. This 'furry friend', is she talking about a stuffed animal or something?

"Ah, so the furry friend also changed classes?" Hawk asked, just being a bit curious.

"No, furry friend told Carlie that there was no way to get him back."

"Him?" Angela had finally become interested.

"Lost a doggy.. doggy died by his hands," Carlie continued. She had finally calmed down. Just what is this furry friend, and why does he want to get stronger just because of a dead dog? Could it be they're.. both of the same kind?

"It's just like how it's painful for humans to lose a fellow human," Hawk seemed to understand. "It'd be painful for a beast to lose another beast."

Beast? Could Hawk be pertaining to the beastmen as he thought about it?

"LET CARLIE FINISH!" she shouted, losing that calm attitude they had finally liked about her. "Furry friend lost hope and decided to just let go of purpose.. that what furry friend say."

"Tragic," Angela kept walking ahead of the others. With a grunt, Carlie and the rest of the team followed, until they were greeted by a broken platform.

"Hey, Fairy, be of use and get us to the other side," Angela turned to the bright light. She noticed the Fairy grew brighter and brighter as she closed her eyes. It was just too blinding. The light finally ceasing, Angela opened her eyes to find that she was finally at the other side.. and greeted by more frightening faces.

"Hahahaha, now our invasion of Wendel can go as planned," laughed a familiar being. At least to Hawk.

"Beastmen," the thief took out his sharp daggers as he attempted to do so back at Jad. Riesz, remembering that event, pointed her lance at the furry beasts as well.

"Don't even think about it," their leader had said. He looked a lot more different. He had more hair, and he actually wore clothing. By the time they figured out their plan, they were already sent flying down the cliff, suffering a painful anf brutal fall on their backs. They were surely finished now.

...

"HEY! HEY!"

Hawk could hear the voice- but was still encompassed in pure darkness. No matter what he had done to push his muscles, the darkness wouldn't fade.

"GET UP!" the masculine voice rang his ears once more. That's easier said than done. Why couldn't he get up?

"Hey, pipe down." a new and more frightening voice chimed in.

"Freddy, please let me out!" There was suddenly this new conversation between two scary voices. The tones could very much tell the appearance for Hawk, whose body was still asleep.

"I can't.. on orders not to let you go!" their tones finally went down a bit.

"Okay, but Beast King will be mad.."

"Uh—but.. I was ordered-"

"Okay, Kevin tell Beast King Freddy didn't let him out."

Hawk was still clueless about what exactly was going on.

"Ah, n-no! I'll let you out, for Beast King!"

Hawk couldn't tell who was talking, he was just listening in by force. After the involuntary eavesdropping he suddenly heard a more familiar voice.

"Shh, Angela, wake up," That was Riesz's voice, no doubt about it.

"Erm, shut up. Carlie, don't be so loud either!" And that was Angela. Carlie should've been nearby. Dear goddess, why was he the only one who can't seem to wake up? He was awake mentally, but physically, that was another story.

"Hawk!" Riesz kept shouting his name, hoping to wake him up. "Hawk!" No luck.

"Carlie," Angela smirked. Now why was she suddenly laughing? "You can go wake Hawk up."

DEAR GODDESS..!

"AARGGHHH, NOOOO!" Hawk screamed, eyes almost bulging out of his sockets as he sat up. His heart was pounding; either because of the hard fall or because of what WAS going to happen if he didn't wake up. He looked around.. this wasn't any place he's ever been to before. All he was certain about was that he was in a jail cell.. a very ominous looking cell to say the least. He was so eager to see where the voices had come from, only to see brick walls and steel bars. So far, this 'journey' isn't going very well. To the corner of the cell, he found Angela still smiling, Riesz and Carlie in the opposite corner laughing as well, which made Hawk grumble with embarrassment.

The brain is powerful indeed- even to the point where all your organs and muscles no longer want to work, fear wakes them all up and forces them to do their jobs once more.

"HEY!" the voice he had heard had finally shown where it had come from – a beast.

Well, he sure looked like one, but he seemed different. There was that hint of kindness that Hawk had sensed just by looking at the poor fellow. He was probably bullied by the rest, but his threats earlier were about his relationship with the Beast King of some sort. Oh great, even he's of royalty?

"Me Kevin," he quickly introduced himself, unlocking the cell. Wait, why was he helping them? "Come out now, we escape."

"Escape?" Angela delightfully stepped out of the cell, regaining her energy along with the others who followed behind her. "Aren't you one of.. them?"

"No, Kevin not with them. Well, I was with them and then they killed.. no.."

"Killed?" echoed the Fairy. She was alive too, it seemed.

"Ah, Fairy!" the beast put on a smile, as if hopeful for something. "It better if we escape together. I was looking for you everywhere. If I help you can I get what I want?"

"Hey, hey, hey, not so fast.. How do we know you're not some enem-"

"FURRY FRIEND!" Carlie shouted, causing everyone to suddenly look at her. So he was the one who put up with Carlie, huh? This was the man who helped her prepare for class-changing, knowing very well it wouldn't benefit him in the future anyway. Maybe this beast had a kind heart.

"Sure." the Fairy smiled. "I'm sure the Goddess will bring back your friend."

Kevin stared in shock, and the Fairy quickly remembered that he had never told her anything; it was by her mere memories that she remembered Carlie's story. Come to think about it, their English is about at the same level to begin with.

"O-Okay. Kevin will join!"

"Bullshit.." Angela ran off without them. "Why on earth did I ever agree to saving the damn world when I have to be with people you'd expect to either be in jail or end up drunk by now. The goddess hates me!"

"By the way," Riesz shushed her. "Where are we?"

"Jad." Kevin softly answered.

...

That ended quickly. Oh well, don't flame. Please review!  
>And I hope you didn't notice that line from the Fairy: "HEY! Listen, ..."<br>I wasn't trying to go for a Navi reference, it was just an accident. xD


	4. When It Rains, It Pours

I won't even admit how long it's been, but whatever, this chapter's been lying there, so I put it up. I apologize, please don't flame! After all, I did use this to procrastinate for school. :) Gomen ne x3

...

Demons With Arches

Chapter 4 – When it rains, it pours

by Rieszeye

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.

"Doesn't this bother you, Kevin?" Angela striked the numerous wolves that came charging at her with her staff, not showing the least bit of reconsideration. Surprisingly, neither was Kevin. "I-I mean.. aren't they.. of your kind?"

The beastman seemed to have paused. "Kevin not bothered." He smiled. It couldn't be that after he had killed that pup of his.. that he was suddenly able to kill them? Even if that were the case, Kevin was still kinder than the rest, right? "Becoming werewolf.. that's what I am. It's part of my blood. Killing wolves is not new to us." He tried his best to explain but was still able to smack the persistent wolves after sinking their claws into his face. They really did require attention.

Hawk, already at the front of the entrance and ahead of the rest, stood patiently after pushing away the last of the pack. Riesz quickly followed after him.

"There are still a few outside and they seem to be more ferocious.. and they're bigger." Angela grabbed Hawk by the shoulders and pushed him against her to act like a shield. Frustrated, Riesz pushed her away and took out her lance.

"Coward! You should be ready to strike no matter what or how huge the enemy is!" she said, full of courage.

She pulled Hawk through the opening and left the rest to stare. The thief obeyed the command without resisting the painful grip of her comrade and started to get rid of the bigger wolves. There was no way Angela wanted to aid them, and Carlie was still petting Kevin. It was their reunion after all. Angela continued to stare at Kevin's pitiful eyes and realized.. that maybe it was really that painful to see his fellow wolves get beaten into a pulp like that.

After the pair had gotten rid of the last of them, Hawk gestured the rest to run to the ship's port. If they waited any longer, who knows how many more packs of wolves would come to greet them. The security sure was tough. "Hurry, climb aboard!" a man by the ship shouted as they quickly hopped on. They weren't missing anyone, hopefully.

Right at the moment the ship was about to move, a familiar voice suddenly slipped in.

"Wait! Wait! Wait for me!" Wait- Hawk and Riesz sure remembered that voice. And they surely remembered that red hair and stained armor.

"Duran!" Hawk exclaimed, waving to him. It was no use, the ship was already moving, and there was no way that they'd take the chance to dock it again. "Argh, damn it! And I thought I'd be able to leave this annoying city!"

"No, Duran.. I'm sorry. I should've looked for you earlier. Run, man! You can still make it!"

Again, it was no use.. The thief waved his last goodbyes as the knight faded in sight.

"Ah, what a pity." Hawk laid back. What was this sudden change of personality? It seemed he didn't care at all.

"That was the handsome knight!" Angela's eyes gleamed. No one seemed to pay any attentive interest in her crushing statements and went on living in their own little worlds. No one made sound throughout the whole trip across the sea. The ship was moving especially slowly, but it made sense considering how heavy the mechanisms were.. not to mention the people aboard it. It was definitely awkward to say the least. Angela and Riesz glanced then looked away from each other multiple times due to their rivalry. Carlie moved on to bother Hawk by constantly tugging on his vest which the thief didn't seem to be bothered by. Both the thief and the beastman were staring into space, ignoring the rest of the world. After a while, Angela ended up getting seasickness which Riesz naturally had to account for.

But it was beautiful. The sea and the sky seemed to have blended into many different shades when mixed with the fluffy clouds. Time seemed to stop, and the worries yet again seemed to fade. These were one of the only times they could think clearly, especially because of their current situation. Beforehand, they all had these personal problems that were difficult all on their own, and this new mission to save the entire world was just put on their shoulders.. just like that. And this is a lot more crucial than their other problems too.

By the time they knew it, they arrived at a peaceful-looking city as another sign appeared at their arrival.

"Free City Maia, hm?" Angela grunted in disgust. "I hope this doesn't turn out like Jad. I mean, the Beastmen plotted to invade Wendel-"

"Wendel?" a bystander interrupted. "From what I heard, the Priest used his power or something to better improve the city's protection.. hence he's been seriously sick for a while. So don't worry, guys, it's not the end of the world yet!" he suddenly ran from the scene.

"Heh, it will be." Angela mumbled, but was suddenly halted by the continuous tugging of her dress by the tiny annoying demon. With zero-tolerance of what was happening, she grabbed the girl's head and picked her up. Carlie's eyes watered as she saw the scariest monster in her whole life- eyes glowing black with wrinkles showing. "Break my dress, I break your fa-"

"T-take it eas-easy..!" Kevin slightly lowered Angela's hand, which was inches away from injuring the poor girl. Even with fear in his soul, he managed to calm the Altena princess down. He turned to Carlie. "What wrong?"

Carlie's eyes overflowed with tears. "G-GRAMPA! We hafta go back! Grampa in trouble!"

Hawk went on his knees. He was starting to get impatient as well. "Look, Carlie, we can't go back anymore. We have a lot of things to do, so he'll have to wait." The demon certainly wanted to leave, but seeing as though his precious Hawk had been the one to say so, she calmed herself down.

"We have a lot of things to do," Riesz announced, wasting no time. "Where should we start?"

"If we're off to Forcena, the nearest way to get there is just by here, pass the Golden Road." Angela lead. "It sounds pretty nice to me, how bad can it be?"

Oh, irony.

"Nothing ever ends up well when you ask those kinds of questions, stupid Angela," Riesz interrupted. "But with Hawk and me, we're a totally indestructibe team!"

As the two princesses pushed each other back and forth for the lead, they barely noticed when their feet finally touched the rough, gold road.. and the welcoming committee.

"EEEEEK!" Angela shrieked, withdrawing. From afar, Hawk leaped up above the bushes and tugged his vest, releasing his daggers. After brutally slashing the monsters alongside Riesz, Angela and the rest walked up further. One thing's for sure, Angela's never seen insects twice the size of her.. in her life. Riesz retreated.

"Yo Kevin, shouldn't you be helping us right now? I mean, you are a bea-"

***BOOOOM***

Silence.

The team halted.

The only sound they could hear was hissing apart from the humongous image of smoke and deceased fire polluting the once-beautiful golden roads- and now transformed them into burnt, cracked remains. Scattered around the area, no one knew where anyone else was and no one knew what had happened. Apart from that, no one could move from shock.

Their hearts were beating triple beats. Hawk had overcome his fear and took a few steps forward, but he didn't really know where to go.

"Yo.. Are you guys still here?"

"HAWK!" Relieved, Riesz traced his voice and ended up beside him, lifting up 50% of the fear in her heart. Now, the rest started to appear one by one, except for one.

"Kevin.." Angela turned around. "Where'd that runt go to?" It's like silence had reigned again as they finally realized the disappearance of one of their new comrades; one of their best ones too.

It was when they had searched the area with fear once again pushing on their bodies that they noticed the horrific image- the image of that new comrade plastered on the road, taken over by serious burns, ripped skin and blood..

"So..much blood.." Angela described, using as few words as possible. It was something she wished she had never seen in her life.

"What the hell happened? Kevin! Kevin, Kevin! Answer me!" Riesz stepped up and shook him by the shoulders, ignoring the stench and feel of the blood on her clothes and hands. What the hell indeed. She wiped off the blood and reached for his right hand, trying to look for a pulse, and eventually found a steady beat. Even through so much fur, that beat still managed to emerge, and that gave them all relief.

Even so, this'll end up bringing them down by a lot.

"FURRY FRIEND!" Carlie screamed to the top of her lungs after hiding behind Hawk, tears washing her swollen eyes. "FURRY FRIEND NEED HELP! HELP HIM!" Easier said than done, and this was barely the beginning of their world-saving journey.

"I'll stay," Riesz acted high and mighty, turning to Angela to boast. "I can take care of myself well."

"Personally," Angela hissed, "I think Hawk should lead. He must have some tricks up his sleeve to work this out, am I right?"

"I don't see how 'tricks up my sleeve' will work on this." the thief squatted. "As much as I'd like to believe so, you're not capable of tending to him. You'll have to go on without me, I can take care of Kevin here."

"You're serious?" Angela cried. "Can't I stay with you? It's bad enough I have to stand alongside these people!"

"No, he's right," argued Riesz, despite the fact that she obviously disagreed herself. "For the sake of our wellbeings, we should go on. We have a mission, remember?"

The group had their final discussions and farewells as they separated and went on with their priorities. Sadly, that priority is the same to each one of them, and the fact that they had to be separated basically made it worse. Knowing that they weren't off to a good start surely wasn't saving them any time to recover.

When the girls had finally disappeared and the area was once again filled with silence, Hawk carried Kevin on his shoulders, blood-stained and dirtied, to the inn, where he couldn't expect any much help from the innkeepers.

It took about 10 hours before the beast just barely woke up, his eyelids swollen and his head throbbing with pain, blood drying up on almost everything.

"Kevin, buddy, can you hear me?"

"He can't hear you," answered a faint voice.

..

"AAAGH!" Hawk jumped, realizing that it was only he and Kevin in the room. Who else could that have been-

"Stupid fairy," he calmed himself down as the faint light once again reappeared itself before them, not a hint of debris on her shiny dress and shoes. If only life had been as easy as hers.

"Now that you mention it, you never even came out at all yesterday. And now that it's come to my attention," Hawk paused.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME ALONG WITH ME?" Hawk shouted.

"What? Is it wrong? Do you not want my guidance?"  
>"Sure I do, but right now, I'm not the one who needs it!"<br>"You're not saying-"

Another pause.

"How can you possibly leave those three alone to continue the trip?" The fairy spiraled around Hawk, softly hitting him with her tiny wand. Emphasizing her anger, she grabbed as many strands of his hair and ripped it right out, which caused the thief to get back into his senses.

"You know how incapable those girls are by themselves," the Fairy lectured, and Hawk couldn't handle it anymore.

"Listen, Fairy," he pulled himself closer to her, face-to-face. "It's not my responsibility to care for them. This is my journey, this is my trip, for the love of the goddess, you chose ME, didn't you? It was by mere fate that they met me; if I didn't go, they would've been alone and going through this thing anyway. It's not my duty to look after them, it's my duty to finish this crap and get what I came here for. The only reason why I'm taking care of Kevin is that he's injured, and it's my fault for being careless. So if you don't mind, I don't want to hear any more of your-"

The Fairy put on a totally different face- with an expression they had never seen before. She creeped up closer to Hawk's face. "You're wrong. If you hadn't come and interfered with their lives, they wouldn't be in this mess. You were the one who invited them. If you hadn't interfered, they would go about on their lives and live peacefully. Even if I can't exactly guarantee that, I know they wouldnt't at least have to go through what you're putting them through. So before acting smart and pretending to know everything, I suggest you think things through more carefully. I don't want to go through this because I have my own reasons for saving the world, but I can no longer put up with this."

The little fly snapped and flew out of the inn, leaving Hawk and Kevin alone in that chilly evening. Now the only help they could get had been angered and left. What would they be left with now? With his mistakes finally caving in, Hawk lay down on the bed, clutching his daggers. _Shit, _he thought.

"Hawk.. that you?" Kevin's lips had began to move, and his eyes had slightly opened. Seeing the difficulty and struggle, Hawk attempted to wipe the wounds with his already-stained vest and reached for the nearby jug of water- before being interrupted yet again by a shadow.. and a voice.

"A-are you there?" the voice had said, creeping up nearer and nearer.

Hawk listed a couple of possibilities, and none of them were for the good. And to his surprise, it was someone he had never, ever expected.

"Hawk! You're okay! How's Kevin?"

Hawk snapped.

"R-RIESZ?" It was over. It was really, really, over. "Goddess, please tell me Angela and Carlie are here too.."

"I couldn't bring them along, they're too much of a nuisance." Riesz went on her knees and took a closer look at Kevin.

"Are you crazy?" He realized that he had probably made the biggest mistake of his life, even bigger than the ones he had already done.

"Don't worry, they met up with the Fairy."

"That's not the point!" Hawk was reaching the point of becoming berserk. "The three of you were incapable alone, yet you left the least capable of you alone! Do you even know the severity of this situation? They're both goners, and you left them to fend for themselves! You don't even understand how hard it is for me to even accept that!" he couldn't take it anymore. He just couldn't let this go.

Riesz's eyes started to water as she grabbed the tablecloth and wiped them. She, being so brave most of the time, couldn't show tears, especially because of her emotions.

No words could come out. What could she say?

"I—I.. I- didn't.. It was just.. I.." It wasn't worth it.

Hawk pressed himself against the wall. "I'm sorry," he just always has to put people down. Everything always has to get worse. He just always had to make matters even worse.

"I guess.." He wondered how he could make the situation any better. "I have to take my anger out on people who are innocent, I guess. I just can't seem to admit that this is all my fault.. And now.. because of me.. Angela and Carlie are-"

Riesz lightly pushed up Hawk's chin with a finger. Slightly shocked, Hawk looked in her eyes and retreated. "There isn't a way to get things better." he declared as he slid himself down.

"You don't have to say anything. What matters is how we deal with this. This isn't just your mission, it's now ours too. You'd be surprised how capable we are." she smiled, barely, but it was a hint. Even so, they couldn't hide the fact that they were in a lethal and dangerous situation. And it was barely half of it.

"I-" Kevin continued to speak, but with pained pauses in between.

Noticing more blood, Riesz stormed off and went into the bathroom. "I'll go get a towel and some water!"

Hawk brushed off some blood and dead skin and attempted to open the beastman's eyes.

"Can you hear me?"  
>"Y-yes. H-hi, Hawk.."<p>

It was relieving. The amazoness had returned with a bowl of water and a few towels as the two had began wiping off the blood, trying to ignore the pained grunts and moans of their injured comrade, but also trying to go more gently.

"I know it hurts, Kev, but hold on." Riesz ripped the rest of his clothing and continued to cover his body with bandages while Hawk cut the excess with his dagger.

By the time Kevin was fully covered and was put to sleep, Kevin and Riesz sat outside on the porch of the inn, once again in that awkward situation to talk, just like last time.

"Do you still feel bad?" Riesz asked.

"I try not to by trying to think positively." he answered bluntly.

"Well," Riesz started to kick the rocks and the sand near her. "is it working?"

"Not really, but I am a bit thankful. I'd probably feel five times worse if I were alone."

"Yeah, I'm thankful that despite all these problems, I can still have times like these to talk and relax. But the next day, we come back to reality.." she admitted as chills started to enter her body.

Seeing the amazoness clutch her body, he removed his vest and slowly blanketed her body with it. It wasn't the best, but it served its purpose well enough.

"What do we do?" Riesz brought up something Hawk had wanted to. "What's our plan?"  
>"I don't know, I'm still unsure whether it's right to wait for Kevin to be well enough and go look for the girls or if we should just go now and leave Kevin here.."<p>

"Kevin's too injured, we can't bring him along so soon, even if he is well enough. He needs rest." Riesz suggested. "But I also think we need rest as well."

"But they could.. they could be-" Hawk couldn't forget the victims at this moment.

"Hawk," she laid her hands on his face. "Trust them. I know they might be cocky and useless on the inside and the outside, but they're very capable." she smiled, laying her head on his shoulders.

"I guess I have no choice but to believe you. After all, after this day, it won't end like this, will it?" Hawk stood up and lead her up to the room again.

"Hey, you'll never know." Riesz laughed.


	5. Dwarf Flu I

I got a laptop! I asked for it for writing purposes, but we all know that's.. totally true. :) ahahahaaha... Just enjoy the chappie, and review if you want moreeee. :) Actually, I'm desperate.

...

Demons With Arches

Chapter 5 – Dwarf Flu I

by Rieszeye

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...

..

.

"Are you sure it was okay to leave him there?" Riesz asked in curiosity, seeing the confident face her ally quickly put on the day of the departure; namely the 7th one yet.

"The innkeepers will take care of him, don't worry. Our first priority is finding the girls as soon as possible. He doesn't need to be included in all this." he answered, exposing his daggers, ready for attack. As much as he wasn't quite fond of the idea of getting them back, he had recently realized how if it weren't for him, these girls wouldn't be at this situation. It burned inside. It even burned him.

And it wasn't like it's easy to get them back. They didn't even know where they were.

"Stay back," the thief called, slashing and slicing away like there was no tomorrow. Explosions of goo and dust covered their views as Myconids and bees came to greet them again. Oh, he'll never get the end of them.

The Golden Road was a magnificent sight until they had once again returned to the area of the explosion. Up until now, there was still no explanation as to why that sudden event had taken place.

They left Kevin back at the inn to recuperate and hopefully come out strong again. The explosion left him tired and barely able to stand, so bringing him along wouldn't have been the best solution.

After a few more minutes of tired hiking and killing, the two had finally reached what seemed like a cave- an ominous one to say the least. The entrance wasn't exactly grand and was barely the size of a normal door. Dried mud and sand clung onto the roof and there were at least a hundred cracks in the walls as if it were ready to disintegrate in any minute. There was no chance they were going in there.

"So.." Riesz started the conversation.

"So," Hawk echoed.

"It can't be _that _bad, right? I mean, assuming that there aren't any monsters insi-"

"Oh, please, Riesz." Hawk dusted off some of the sand that occupied near the entrance. "Do you even believe what you just said?"

"Ah, heck with it." Hawk and Riesz hesitantly tiptoed inside with fingers crossed and eyes half closed. The thief's demeanor was now very different from wha t he wore before as darkness overpowered the light in the blink of an eye, and not even the Fairy was there to provide them with the least bit of light.

It was pitch-black, and no one could see the path nor the entrance since they were too far in. There was certainly no time for retreating.

"So... do you think they came in here? Angela couldn't have possibly agreed to set her foot in here! Of all places, not here." Riesz tried her best to avoid walking any further, not that they had any other choice.

"Yes, but, Carlie's whining is ten times more powerful than that," stated the thief, already ten meters away from his ally, carefully touching around to try and reveal different landmarks, and possibly find enemies to hunt. This sure was boring.

The cave was unassuming. With nothing to even see, you would guess that it's at least fifty times the size of a football field, but it really wasn't.

"I think.. Oh! I can use this!" Hawk rummaged through his pockets in the dark, with what seemed like jewels and metals and who knows what clanking and jangling in the meantime. Without wait, he pulled out a foreign object that seemed to only flash with oh-so-glorious-cave-hatred light, with its radiance even brighter than the light outside the cave. As much as the two were consoled to at once witness the surroundings of the area, they were disappointed to find that the size of the cave was only half of the size of their inn room. Feeling awfully stupid, Hawk searched for the nearest exit and headed northwest.

"Come on, I see a way ou-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH! EEEEKK!"

...

Alarming screams and repeated cries were detected from the nearby exit. It sure wasn't an explosion, but it was just as clamorous and ear-piercing.

Without haste, the two dashed to the exit, hammering through the rocks and mud that came in their way, and finally met up with the three girls- with a few other customers.

"Wh-what do you want from us?" Angela's shriek blasted through the cave walls.

"W-we mean no harm!" the Fairy begged. Carlie, still crunched up in Angela's shadow, made no sound.

"Angela! Carlie! The- fairy.." Hawk rushed in to accompany his allies, with Riesz not far behind.

"Hawk! Riesz!" Angela was relieved, but there was no time for reunions at that moment. There were far greater tasks at hand, one they weren't so sure about.

"Who are you?" Riesz challenged the enemies head-on, who were quietly standing like statues with their dark violet robes and hats. They were of the unusual type, they weren't like the others the team had faced before. Come to think about it, they had felt the same way about the Beastmen, so..

"I know them," Angela admitted with a hint of regret. "They're magicians from Altena.. and I'm not surprised. They were here to attack Forcena for sure."

"Sorry," one of the magicians finally spoke up. "but we're here for you, Princess Angela."

"F-for me?" the magician exile walked back as the magician in front of her slowly walked forward. Hawk, with his hands hid in his vest, ready for attack, went in front. "Seriously, Angela, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?"

"I told you, I ran away." Angela tried her best to tell a story while cautiously evading magicians' slowly running after you. "My mother must still be out to kill me."

"Everyone must hate you," Hawk moved alongside her. "I mean, we're surrounded by them!"

"Speak for yourself!"

There were at least twenty of the demonic magicians lined up on both sides of the pathway. It was a bridge, a fragile bridge that looked to have been worn out for hundreds of years. What could possibly go wrong?

"Listen, ladies," Hawk once again put his skills to work. "I'm not so sure that dealing with us is exactly child's play. We won't be responsible with what happens to you. I mean, don't you have more important things to be doing rather than having to deal with us?" The rest stood in awe and anticipation, hoping that the enemies would be generous enough to permit them to pass safely, or even authorizing a ten-second head start would do them wonders. If only life were that easy.

The magicians looked at exchanged glances for a moment. So did the team.

"He's right," one announced. "We can't possibly account for a loss."

So it was that easy..

"Yeah, we can't waste our time here," pointed out another.

"But we can't have them in our way!"

"That's right. We have no choice."

"Shit," Hawk bit his lip.

"Well, alright! Send in the Machine Golems!"

It was only a matter of time that they were, again, surrounded by not one, but two intimidating robots with polished gear and flashing heads, gleaming with anger. Hawk, Angela, Riesz, Carlie and the Fairy hesitantly stepped up, hoping to face them with their all, and come back with their all. Although there was that slight chance everything would end up in ashes (possibly them included), they knew to put on brave faces and ignore the consequence bullshit.

Their trains of thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the golems let out a stupefying cry, their bodies beaming in scarlet light. Terrified, the team occupied the sides and taunted with their weapons, trails of sweat dripping to their necks.

The burning robots were quivering even faster, the light growing and growing larger by the second. Before anyone could even move a limb, unrestrained flames shot out of both golems and rocketed through the cave- igniting large rocks and providing a hazardous maze that was surely impossible to cross.

Too occupied by walking through the fire, the team hadn't noticed the second round of flares were released and, in a flash, striked Hawk and Angela who were trapped by the already-lit rocks that stood in their way. Grunts and cries were heard from the two as the vast flames had covered everything in their sight, leaving no trail of their bodies.

Riesz and Carlie were appalled and immediately sprung through the painful heat, hoping for their very lives that the two had somehow managed to stay alive.

"HAWWKK! ANGELA!" Riesz couldn't break her allies free even after the repeated burns of her hands and arms, ignoring the pain coursing through her veins. Carlie, still unable to speak from the traumatic image and pain, hugged Riesz, sobbing loudly.

By the time the two had calmed down, the golems had eventually tracked them down, once again firing up to prepare for another attack. Riesz's alarm response wasn't fast enough when she had noticed a hint of skin from the nearby cracks near the rocks. The only problem was, the persistent robots were only two inches away from putting her whole body on fire, and there was no time again to retreat. The amazoness took her lance and charged, the exerted force letting her spin swiftly and land, her lance still in-tact with the inaudible golem. She heard cracks and crashes as the first golem collapsed and became nothing but dark ashes.

She hurriedly ran to the one spot she thankfully remembered and witnessed Carlie, crying, trying to lift the burning rocks. Seeing the little girl's hands trembling in fear, Riesz felt sympathy and lifted the rocks one by one with her lance, sitting beside her.

"Sorry, Carls, to have to get you into this," she had started to show tears herself.

"No.. but.. it okay!" Carlie gleamed, something Riesz had never expected.

"Shhh!" she shushed, looking around for the other golem. "Listen, it's all my fault.. I left you guys, and this wouldn't have happened if-"

"It okay!" the little elf repeated.

"How could you say that? We just lost two of our allies!"

"No!" Carlie insisted. "They not dead!"

"What?"

There was a flash of smoke, and emerging from the dark, appeared the second golem, racing through the remains of the fires, trying to be as invisible as possible. It hurdled on the nearest fires which seemed to have made it stronger. There wasn't any time to waste.

"Angela!" a soft voice made itself known, being heard from almost every wall.

_Angela?_ Riesz turned her head, but had to take care of the more important enemy coming straight at her from meters away.

"Damn it, hurry up!" came another familiar voice, once again distracting Riesz. Luckily, she was intelligent enough to evade the swings and attacks swift enough to injure her.

In a sudden moment, blinding white light breached through the holes of the rocks, merging them together and compelled it to demolish into pebbles. After a while, balls of light and energy spread to the area and burst into minuscule drops of magic, putting out the rest of the fires and finally revealed the two injured, but grateful, allies.

The thief and the magician, with a thousand scrapes, cuts and burns crawled to where the rest were and focused- on the actual task at hand. The golem was once again firing up and taking advantage of the time lost when trying to rescue the two.

Riesz and Carlie were still dumbfounded as to how they could have avoided such death but decided not to bother since there were other things to worry about.

The last golem had flown through the polluted air like a crashing airplane; no haste and full of power. It had given the hint that it was fully recharged which meant that the conclusion of this very agitating battle wouldn't be coming very near. The whole area was done for. Ashes and burnt scraps and wood blanketed the once-soothing bridge, and the water became an ugly dark brown. And, of course, being injured in the process makes it a little bit difficult.

Carlie squeaked from behind and lifted up her ball-and-chain.

A ray of lights sprinkled and spiraled around the enclosed and suddenly-shrinking cave and threaded around everybody- replenishing them with the strength they had no idea they even lost and filled them up with a rejuvenating sensation like they were ready to face the world. The magic glowed a magnificent rainbow and lit up Angela's magenta hair and she masked the issue with a brave face.

Hawk smiled his thanks to Carlie and pushed his violet hair to the back.

"Hey, you damn pest!" the arrogant magician pointed her staff at the golem, charging at them from a long distance. "Five and a half against one? You're dreaming!"

Hawk snickered and stepped forward, daggers shielding his face and chest and Riesz's lance danced around her gracefully. Angela concentrated on pushing out magic while Carlie remained behind, taking advantage of her own healing abilities.

The flames that roared from the intimidating golem clashed with Hawk's reflective daggers and immediately ceased, not after burning the ends of three strands of his hair, thankfully no more. Riesz's lance barely missed but managed to thrust through the metal monster's bronze helm and it went flying, suffering a hard, painful fall.

"Holy ball!" Angela took a huge step forward, closing her eyes and letting her wand control her hand like a puppet. The ends of her dress danced up and her gloves gleamed white and her luscious hair curled around her face as vibrating pellets of white light rose up to the ceiling and expanded.

There was a gentle, but powerful explosion of silent magic which left the team rather dazzled before the agonized crying of the golem soon followed.

Silence took over. The five looked around to examine if everyone was present, and they were pleased to find each other smiling back. Riesz improved her stance and picked up her lance and walked behind Hawk, who was walking over to where the golem had fallen.

His face lit up. "Our business is done," he announced. "Angela, bust up this place, will you? I'm sure you're as eager as the rest of us to leave, right?"

The magician laughed. "Leave it to me!"

The team waited a while before the same sensation occurred and carved a precise opening through the rocks and bricks. Satisfied with her stealth and precision, Angela stood up straight and walked in front of the rest with loud, arrogant steps and lead them back to the inn.

But, of course, there were the monsters back at the Golden Road that just wouldn't quit.

Back at the inn, the five had quietly settled in and calmed themselves down. The table had been set with more food than they've ever gotten. Of course, it wasn't typical for the two princesses to eat only one main and one side dish, but they couldn't complain. After what they've been through today, it was a blessing to get a slice of fresh lamb chops and cuts of sweet potato with a few spices Hawk accumulated through his travelling. It was good enough.

"Hawk," Angela wiped her greased fingers on her dress. "Where exactly did you get this? Don't tell me you were out hunting while Carlie and I were dying!"

"Ahem, I was there too!" the Fairy shouted.

The thief snickered. "A man has his secrets. Just be thankful you have that to eat."

Kevin had already began to recover and his appetite was enough proof. He had finished his meal long before the rest did and decided to kill time by brushing up his claws near the corner of the inn room. The other four circled around the table, sharing stories and complaining about earlier.

"So we not go to Forcena?" Carlie put on a hysterical face.

"Doesn't seem like it." Riesz answered. "Our only way to Forcena was destroyed, remember?"

"Did someone say they need to travel to Forcena?" chimed a voice. It would've been a bit easier to know where the voice came from, but just like the inn all the way at Jad, it was packed. Maybe not of old, raspy men but of regular civilians. Maybe Maia was a more peaceful place.

"Uh, yeah. I think that's us here." Angela called out while rotating her head. Where was that voice coming from?

Then they noticed their mistake. As they looked around they noticed that all they had to do was bring their heads down. And look! The voice revealed itself! And it was from a small boy, probably around eight, with a weird trench coat of some sort.

"May we ask who you are?" Riesz smiled. She must've found him cute.

"Not for you," the little boy replied, and Riesz took back her smile. "But hey, I have a solution if you want to get to Forcena. For no charge! Probably just a few broken backs, but it'll take less time than you ever imagined! "

He was lot happier and more active than his clothes protrayed him to be. He ought to be a detective or something with the trench coat, and all that was missing was a giant magnifying glass to make the outfit complete. He didn't even have the accent.

"That's too good to be true, and I would know an offer like that." Hawk declined. "If it's free, it's most likely a scam."

"Then would you rather pay, then? Because we'd love that even more." the boy answered back.

"How do we know it's legitimate? And how exactly will you get us there?"

"Oh, all your questions!" The typical kid boredom. "First of all, it isn't ME who's going to get you there. What, did you think I was going to carry your butts on my back to Forcena for no charge? I don't think so. My uncle lives here in Maia as well, and we're not exactly the richest people here. But, even if we are poor, my uncle always creates these thingamajiggers like there's no tomorrow! With all the parts he collects, I bet we could've been rich, but he hated to let them go."

"Ah," The typical Angela boredom. "So what can your uncle do for us?"

The boy looked around, almost discretely, and gestured the rest to move their heads in closer. "Shh! There are people looking at me sinisterly. Maybe we should continue this at the pub." he said as the rest agreed. He slowly guided the rest to the pub and sat them up front.

Hawk already ordered himself a beer, and Angela later on forced him to buy her one. "So, continue."

"His recent creation; probably the one he's the most proud of. I'm telling you, he won't stop talking about it! He made a cannon- a HUGE one, and won't mind giving you a lift."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." The Fairy stopped the conversation. "That's not safe! Why, we'd even get to keep our lives if we'd just travel there by other means."

"Shut your trap, fly!" Angela swatted her with her weapon. "We've not been 'safe' in a long time. It's your retarded mission, alright? If this giant cannon can get us to Forcena, who cares if it's unsafe?"

The Fairy flew away, grunting.

"How good is the aim, though?" Riesz questioned, ignoring the other princess.

"The best," the kid continued. "Gives you about a 97% success rate."

"And if we don't land in Forcena, where will we end up?"

The little boy sighed and pulled out a giant, rolled-up map. He opened it up and laid it on the table as if he had come prepared for a bargain or something. He pointed to a large clump of land which they had already assumed was Forcena, and moved his finger onto a picture of a forest surrounding it.

"If you land away from Forcena, you'll likely end up here. It's the Molebear Highlands, but I'm guessing it's not much of a threat. And besides, that rarely ever happens."

"Just to be prepared, though, there aren't any scary robots there, right?" Angela's paranoia of what happened today kicked in.

"Robots? What're you talking about? There'll be Molebears, and maybe a few other monsters, but the Forcenan soldiers keep a tight check on that place every now and then. It's a safe place nonetheless."

"Oh you don't know the meaning of 'safe' these days." Hawk lowered his daggers on the table and took a sip of his drink. "but it's worth a shot. Now, will you tell us why it's free of charge?"

"It's a cannon." the boy turned to him. "There's a higher chance of broken bones than money. Just think of it as payment for what _could_ happen during the trip."

Well, that assured them. Everything was going to be great.

They hadn't a choice, right?

"Alright then, where's your uncle? We'd love for his.. masterpiece.. to get us to our destination, thank you very much." Angela stepped out of the bar ahead of the rest.

"I'll take you to him. His name is Bon Voyage, by the way." the boy ran up ahead of her and the rest gradually followed.

"Off to Forcena, everyone!"

"YAAYYY!" Carlie skipped.

Or at least, that's what they hoped for.

...

...

I know that you're all probably going to kill me for the long wait. Oh wait, no you won't! :D...

Anyway, it's March Break, which is an excuse to sleep all day and do no work (which isn't possible since I've got SOOO much homework.. pfftt, boo.) so I'll try to get chapter 6 on its way. Damn you, homeworkkkkk!  
>I was sick and I couldn't attend school for almost a whole week, so all the projects and assignments just stacked each other in the duration. So now this week sucks. But hey, at least I have a break, right? :) Anyway, please review! And don't kill me. :3<p> 


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